diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/802-update-s3-module_util-validate_bucket_name-to-accept-3-character-bucket-name.yml b/changelogs/fragments/802-update-s3-module_util-validate_bucket_name-to-accept-3-character-bucket-name.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..19dddbdad87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/802-update-s3-module_util-validate_bucket_name-to-accept-3-character-bucket-name.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - module.utils.s3 - Update validate_bucket_name minimum length to 3 (https://github.com/ansible-collections/amazon.aws/pull/802).
diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/s3.py b/plugins/module_utils/s3.py
index 177e9cca0c6..c13c91f25b1 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/s3.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/s3.py
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ def calculate_etag_content(module, content, etag, s3, bucket, obj, version=None)
 
 def validate_bucket_name(module, name):
     # See: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/bucketnamingrules.html
-    if len(name) < 4:
-        module.fail_json(msg='the S3 bucket name is too short')
+    if len(name) < 3:
+        module.fail_json(msg='the length of an S3 bucket must be at least 3 characters')
     if len(name) > 63:
         module.fail_json(msg='the length of an S3 bucket cannot exceed 63 characters')
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/module_utils/test_s3.py b/tests/unit/module_utils/test_s3.py
index b470f613d4d..b078f718db2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/module_utils/test_s3.py
+++ b/tests/unit/module_utils/test_s3.py
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ def test_validate_bucket_name():
     assert not module.fail_json.called
     assert s3.validate_bucket_name(module, "my.example.s3.bucket") is True
     assert not module.fail_json.called
+    assert s3.validate_bucket_name(module, "doc") is True
+    assert not module.fail_json.called
 
     module.fail_json.reset_mock()
     s3.validate_bucket_name(module, "doc_example_bucket")
@@ -38,3 +40,5 @@ def test_validate_bucket_name():
     module.fail_json.reset_mock()
     s3.validate_bucket_name(module, "doc-example-bucket-")
     assert module.fail_json.called
+    s3.validate_bucket_name(module, "my")
+    assert module.fail_json.called