diff --git a/ingestion_server/ingestion_server/cleanup.py b/ingestion_server/ingestion_server/cleanup.py
index b2faeb0a701..be1e5c65fee 100644
--- a/ingestion_server/ingestion_server/cleanup.py
+++ b/ingestion_server/ingestion_server/cleanup.py
@@ -303,6 +303,10 @@ def save_cleaned_data(result: dict) -> dict[str, int]:
 
 
 def _get_s3_resource():
+    """
+    Locally, it connects to a MinIO instance through its endpoint and test credentials.
+    On live environments, the connection is allowed via IAM roles.
+    """
     if config("ENVIRONMENT", default="local") == "local":
         return boto3.resource(
             "s3",
@@ -317,15 +321,16 @@ def _get_s3_resource():
 
 
 def _upload_to_s3(fields):
+    """Upload cleaned data to S3. It assumes that the bucket already exists."""
     bucket_name = config("OPENVERSE_BUCKET", default="openverse-catalog")
     s3_path = "shared/data-refresh-cleaned-data"
     try:
         s3 = _get_s3_resource()
+        s3.meta.client.head_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
         bucket = s3.Bucket(bucket_name)
-        bucket.load()
         log.info(f"Connected to S3 and '{bucket_name}' bucket loaded.")
     except Exception as e:
-        log.error(f"Upload failed. Error connecting to S3 or loading bucket: {e}")
+        log.error(f"Files upload failed. Error connecting to S3.\n{e}")
         return
 
     for field in fields: