diff --git a/pkg/aws/s3/s3.go b/pkg/aws/s3/s3.go
index 96e59cc..3ba2d3e 100644
--- a/pkg/aws/s3/s3.go
+++ b/pkg/aws/s3/s3.go
@@ -307,6 +307,11 @@ func (s *service) DeleteObjects(ctx context.Context, bucketName string, objects
 }
 
 func newS3Client(region string, awsEndpoint string) *s3.Client {
+	// Default to us-east-1 if no region is provided
+	if region == "" {
+		region = "us-east-1"
+	}
+
 	// Initialize AWS S3 Client
 	cfg, err := config.New(region)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/aws/s3/s3_test.go b/pkg/aws/s3/s3_test.go
index 4b878d7..8295f70 100644
--- a/pkg/aws/s3/s3_test.go
+++ b/pkg/aws/s3/s3_test.go
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func Test_newS3Client(t *testing.T) {
 			if got == nil {
 				t.Errorf("newS3Client() returned nil when it wasn't supposed to")
 			}
-			if tt.args.region == "" && got.Options().Region != "us-west-2" {
+			if tt.args.region == "" && got.Options().Region != "us-east-1" {
 				t.Errorf("newS3Client() returned client with region set to %s", got.Options().Region)
 			}
 			if got.Options().Region != tt.args.region && tt.args.region != "" {