diff --git a/.env.dev.example b/.env.dev.example
index 31694969d..f42aaaaec 100644
--- a/.env.dev.example
+++ b/.env.dev.example
@@ -44,10 +44,15 @@ EMAIL_USE_TLS=true
 EMAIL_USE_SSL=false
 
 # S3 configuration
-# Commented are example values if you use Scaleway instead of AWS
 USE_S3=false
-# AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
-# AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
+AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
+AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
+
+# Commented are example values if you use a non-AWS, S3-compatible service
+# AWS S3 should work with only AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME and AWS_S3_REGION_NAME
+# non-AWS S3-compatible services will need AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME,
+# along with both AWS_S3_CUSTOM_DOMAIN and AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL
+
 # AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME=        # "example-bucket-name"
 # AWS_S3_CUSTOM_DOMAIN=None       # "example-bucket-name.s3.fr-par.scw.cloud"
 # AWS_S3_REGION_NAME=None         # "fr-par"
diff --git a/.env.prod.example b/.env.prod.example
index 69578a774..5115469ca 100644
--- a/.env.prod.example
+++ b/.env.prod.example
@@ -44,10 +44,15 @@ EMAIL_USE_TLS=true
 EMAIL_USE_SSL=false
 
 # S3 configuration
-# Commented are example values if you use Scaleway instead of AWS
 USE_S3=false
-# AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
-# AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
+AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
+AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
+
+# Commented are example values if you use a non-AWS, S3-compatible service
+# AWS S3 should work with only AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME and AWS_S3_REGION_NAME
+# non-AWS S3-compatible services will need AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME,
+# along with both AWS_S3_CUSTOM_DOMAIN and AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL
+
 # AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME=        # "example-bucket-name"
 # AWS_S3_CUSTOM_DOMAIN=None       # "example-bucket-name.s3.fr-par.scw.cloud"
 # AWS_S3_REGION_NAME=None         # "fr-par"
diff --git a/bookwyrm/settings.py b/bookwyrm/settings.py
index eb052952a..17fcfabe5 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/settings.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/settings.py
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ if USE_S3:
     AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = env("AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY")
     AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME = env("AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME")
     AWS_S3_CUSTOM_DOMAIN = env("AWS_S3_CUSTOM_DOMAIN")
-    AWS_S3_REGION_NAME = env("AWS_S3_REGION_NAME")
+    AWS_S3_REGION_NAME = env("AWS_S3_REGION_NAME", "")
     AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL = env("AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL")
     AWS_DEFAULT_ACL = "public-read"
     AWS_S3_OBJECT_PARAMETERS = {"CacheControl": "max-age=86400"}