diff --git a/internal/controller/bsl.go b/internal/controller/bsl.go
index fa2e95b406c..e496b69966c 100644
--- a/internal/controller/bsl.go
+++ b/internal/controller/bsl.go
@@ -527,12 +527,16 @@ func (r *DataProtectionApplicationReconciler) validateAWSBackupStorageLocation(b
 	}
 
 	// BSL region is required when
+	// - s3Url is set, because the user is pointing to a non-AWS S3-compatible service
+	//   where region auto-discovery via AWS API is not valid
 	// - s3ForcePathStyle is true, because some velero processes requires region to be set and is not auto-discoverable when s3ForcePathStyle is true
 	//   imagestream backup in openshift-velero-plugin now uses the same method to discover region as the rest of the velero codebase
 	// - even when s3ForcePathStyle is false, some aws bucket regions may not be discoverable and the user has to set it manually
 	if (bslSpec.Config == nil || len(bslSpec.Config[Region]) == 0) &&
-		(bslSpec.Config != nil && bslSpec.Config[S3ForcePathStyle] == "true" || !aws.BucketRegionIsDiscoverable(bslSpec.ObjectStorage.Bucket)) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("region for AWS backupstoragelocation not automatically discoverable. Please set the region in the backupstoragelocation config")
+		(bslSpec.Config != nil && len(bslSpec.Config[S3URL]) > 0 ||
+			bslSpec.Config != nil && bslSpec.Config[S3ForcePathStyle] == "true" ||
+			!aws.BucketRegionIsDiscoverable(bslSpec.ObjectStorage.Bucket)) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("region for AWS backupstoragelocation is required. Please set the region in the backupstoragelocation config")
 	}
 
 	//TODO: Add minio, noobaa, local storage validations
diff --git a/internal/controller/bsl_test.go b/internal/controller/bsl_test.go
index f1b85d94214..027a3b5753d 100644
--- a/internal/controller/bsl_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/bsl_test.go
@@ -1459,6 +1459,131 @@ func TestDPAReconciler_ValidateBackupStorageLocations(t *testing.T) {
 			want:    true,
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "BSL with s3Url and no region expect to fail",
+			dpa: &oadpv1alpha1.DataProtectionApplication{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "foo",
+					Namespace: "test-ns",
+				},
+				Spec: oadpv1alpha1.DataProtectionApplicationSpec{
+					Configuration: &oadpv1alpha1.ApplicationConfig{
+						Velero: &oadpv1alpha1.VeleroConfig{},
+					},
+					BackupImages: ptr.To(false),
+					BackupLocations: []oadpv1alpha1.BackupLocation{
+						{
+							Velero: &velerov1.BackupStorageLocationSpec{
+								Provider: "aws",
+								Config: map[string]string{
+									S3URL: "https://s3.us-south.cloud-object-storage.appdomain.cloud",
+								},
+								StorageType: velerov1.StorageType{
+									ObjectStorage: &velerov1.ObjectStorageLocation{
+										Bucket: DiscoverableBucket,
+										Prefix: "prefix",
+									},
+								},
+								Default: true,
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			secret: &corev1.Secret{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "cloud-credentials",
+					Namespace: "test-ns",
+				},
+				Data: map[string][]byte{"cloud": []byte("[default]\naws_access_key_id=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE\naws_secret_access_key=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY")},
+			},
+			want:    false,
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "BSL with s3Url and region set expect to succeed",
+			dpa: &oadpv1alpha1.DataProtectionApplication{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "foo",
+					Namespace: "test-ns",
+				},
+				Spec: oadpv1alpha1.DataProtectionApplicationSpec{
+					Configuration: &oadpv1alpha1.ApplicationConfig{
+						Velero: &oadpv1alpha1.VeleroConfig{},
+					},
+					BackupImages: ptr.To(false),
+					BackupLocations: []oadpv1alpha1.BackupLocation{
+						{
+							Velero: &velerov1.BackupStorageLocationSpec{
+								Provider: "aws",
+								Config: map[string]string{
+									S3URL:  "https://s3.us-south.cloud-object-storage.appdomain.cloud",
+									Region: "us-south",
+								},
+								StorageType: velerov1.StorageType{
+									ObjectStorage: &velerov1.ObjectStorageLocation{
+										Bucket: "ibm-cos-bucket",
+										Prefix: "prefix",
+									},
+								},
+								Default: true,
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			secret: &corev1.Secret{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "cloud-credentials",
+					Namespace: "test-ns",
+				},
+				Data: map[string][]byte{"cloud": []byte("[default]\naws_access_key_id=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE\naws_secret_access_key=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY")},
+			},
+			want:    true,
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "BSL with s3Url and s3ForcePathStyle but no region expect to fail",
+			dpa: &oadpv1alpha1.DataProtectionApplication{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "foo",
+					Namespace: "test-ns",
+				},
+				Spec: oadpv1alpha1.DataProtectionApplicationSpec{
+					Configuration: &oadpv1alpha1.ApplicationConfig{
+						Velero: &oadpv1alpha1.VeleroConfig{},
+					},
+					BackupImages: ptr.To(false),
+					BackupLocations: []oadpv1alpha1.BackupLocation{
+						{
+							Velero: &velerov1.BackupStorageLocationSpec{
+								Provider: "aws",
+								Config: map[string]string{
+									S3URL:            "https://s3.us-south.cloud-object-storage.appdomain.cloud",
+									S3ForcePathStyle: "true",
+								},
+								StorageType: velerov1.StorageType{
+									ObjectStorage: &velerov1.ObjectStorageLocation{
+										Bucket: "ibm-cos-bucket",
+										Prefix: "prefix",
+									},
+								},
+								Default: true,
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			secret: &corev1.Secret{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "cloud-credentials",
+					Namespace: "test-ns",
+				},
+				Data: map[string][]byte{"cloud": []byte("[default]\naws_access_key_id=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE\naws_secret_access_key=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY")},
+			},
+			want:    false,
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "CloudStorage with different providers - AWS",
 			dpa: &oadpv1alpha1.DataProtectionApplication{