diff --git a/classes/local/store/s3/client.php b/classes/local/store/s3/client.php
index b035fa10..3e3ccf40 100644
--- a/classes/local/store/s3/client.php
+++ b/classes/local/store/s3/client.php
@@ -184,6 +184,10 @@ public function set_client($config) {
             $options['endpoint'] = $config->s3_base_url;
         }
 
+        if (!empty($config->s3_path_style_endpoint)) {
+            $options['use_path_style_endpoint'] = (bool) $config->s3_path_style_endpoint;
+        }
+
         $this->client = \Aws\S3\S3Client::factory($options);
     }
 
@@ -330,6 +334,9 @@ public function test_connection() {
         } catch (\Aws\Exception\CredentialsException $e) {
             $connection->success = false;
             $connection->details = $this->get_exception_details($e);
+        } catch (\Aws\Auth\Exception\UnresolvedAuthSchemeException $e) {
+            $connection->success = false;
+            $connection->details = $this->get_exception_details($e);
         }
 
         return $connection;
@@ -513,6 +520,13 @@ public function define_client_section($settings, $config) {
             ''
         ));
 
+        $settings->add(new \admin_setting_configcheckbox(
+            'tool_objectfs/s3_path_style_endpoint',
+            new \lang_string('settings:aws:path_style_endpoint', 'tool_objectfs'),
+            new \lang_string('settings:aws:path_style_endpoint_help', 'tool_objectfs'),
+            0
+        ));
+
         $settings->add(new \admin_setting_configtext(
             'tool_objectfs/key_prefix',
             new \lang_string('settings:aws:key_prefix', 'tool_objectfs'),
@@ -804,6 +818,14 @@ public function define_client_check_sdk($config) {
         global $OUTPUT;
         $output = '';
         if (empty($config->s3_usesdkcreds)) {
+            // If AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID is missing from the environment, we assume 
+            // no SDK credentials are available. This prevents the AWS SDK from 
+            // falling back to the Instance Metadata Service
+            // which causes a 5+ second connection timeout on non-AWS environments.
+            if (!getenv('AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID')) {
+                return '';
+            }
+
             $config->s3_usesdkcreds = 1;
             $this->set_client($config);
             $connection = $this->test_connection();
diff --git a/lang/en/tool_objectfs.php b/lang/en/tool_objectfs.php
index 6ee7edbb..6c59bb7f 100644
--- a/lang/en/tool_objectfs.php
+++ b/lang/en/tool_objectfs.php
@@ -135,6 +135,8 @@
 $string['settings:aws:key_help'] = 'Amazon S3 key credential.';
 $string['settings:aws:key_prefix'] = 'Prefix to use in bucket';
 $string['settings:aws:key_prefix_help'] = 'Prefix to use inside Amazon S3 bucket. Must end with trailing slash when set. Leave blank to use root of bucket.';
+$string['settings:aws:path_style_endpoint'] = 'Path style endpoint';
+$string['settings:aws:path_style_endpoint_help'] = 'Use path style endpoints for S3 client.';
 $string['settings:aws:region'] = 'region';
 $string['settings:aws:region_help'] = 'Amazon S3 API gateway region.';
 $string['settings:aws:sdkcredserror'] = 'Couldn\'t find AWS credentials. It\'s unsafe to enable this setting. Follow up <a href="https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-php/v3/developer-guide/guide_credentials.html">AWS documentation</a>.';