diff --git a/pkg/storage/s3.go b/pkg/storage/s3.go
index 1239bb4c4..a764c30c8 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/s3.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/s3.go
@@ -130,9 +130,6 @@ type S3BackendOptions struct {
 
 // Apply apply s3 options on backup.S3.
 func (options *S3BackendOptions) Apply(s3 *backup.S3) error {
-	if options.Region == "" {
-		options.Region = "us-east-1"
-	}
 	if options.Endpoint != "" {
 		u, err := url.Parse(options.Endpoint)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -176,10 +173,11 @@ func defineS3Flags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	// TODO: remove experimental tag if it's stable
 	flags.String(s3EndpointOption, "",
 		"(experimental) Set the S3 endpoint URL, please specify the http or https scheme explicitly")
-	flags.String(s3RegionOption, "", "(experimental) Set the S3 region, e.g. us-east-1")
+	flags.String(s3RegionOption, "", "(experimental) Set the S3 region, e.g. us-east-1, "+
+		"defaults to using the AWS_REGION env var")
 	flags.String(s3StorageClassOption, "", "(experimental) Set the S3 storage class, e.g. STANDARD")
 	flags.String(s3SseOption, "", "Set S3 server-side encryption, e.g. aws:kms")
-	flags.String(s3SseKmsKeyIDOption, "", "KMS CMK key id to use with S3 server-side encryption."+
+	flags.String(s3SseKmsKeyIDOption, "", "KMS CMK key id to use with S3 server-side encryption. "+
 		"Leave empty to use S3 owned key.")
 	flags.String(s3ACLOption, "", "(experimental) Set the S3 canned ACLs, e.g. authenticated-read")
 	flags.String(s3ProviderOption, "", "(experimental) Set the S3 provider, e.g. aws, alibaba, ceph")
@@ -228,8 +226,10 @@ func NewS3Storage( // revive:disable-line:flag-parameter
 	qs := *backend
 	awsConfig := aws.NewConfig().
 		WithMaxRetries(maxRetries).
-		WithS3ForcePathStyle(qs.ForcePathStyle).
-		WithRegion(qs.Region)
+		WithS3ForcePathStyle(qs.ForcePathStyle)
+	if qs.Region != "" {
+		awsConfig.WithRegion(qs.Region)
+	}
 	if qs.Endpoint != "" {
 		awsConfig.WithEndpoint(qs.Endpoint)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/storage/s3_test.go b/pkg/storage/s3_test.go
index 07715e311..41461ef35 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/s3_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/s3_test.go
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func (r *testStorageSuite) TestApplyUpdate(c *C) {
 				Endpoint: "",
 			},
 			s3: &backup.S3{
-				Region: "us-east-1",
+				Region: "",
 				Bucket: "bucket",
 				Prefix: "prefix",
 			},
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ func (r *testStorageSuite) TestApplyUpdate(c *C) {
 				Endpoint: "https://s3.us-west-2",
 			},
 			s3: &backup.S3{
-				Region:   "us-east-1",
+				Region:   "",
 				Endpoint: "https://s3.us-west-2",
 				Bucket:   "bucket",
 				Prefix:   "prefix",
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ func (r *testStorageSuite) TestApplyUpdate(c *C) {
 				Endpoint: "http://s3.us-west-2",
 			},
 			s3: &backup.S3{
-				Region:   "us-east-1",
+				Region:   "",
 				Endpoint: "http://s3.us-west-2",
 				Bucket:   "bucket",
 				Prefix:   "prefix",