diff --git a/lifecycle/system_migrations/tenant_files.py b/lifecycle/system_migrations/tenant_files.py
index 40795d4607b6..737e1c0c1224 100644
--- a/lifecycle/system_migrations/tenant_files.py
+++ b/lifecycle/system_migrations/tenant_files.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # flake8: noqa
 from pathlib import Path
 
+from authentik.lib.config import CONFIG
 from lifecycle.migrate import BaseMigration
 
 MEDIA_ROOT = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent / "media"
@@ -9,7 +10,9 @@
 
 class Migration(BaseMigration):
     def needs_migration(self) -> bool:
-        return not TENANT_MEDIA_ROOT.exists()
+        return (
+            not TENANT_MEDIA_ROOT.exists() and CONFIG.get("storage.media.backend", "file") != "s3"
+        )
 
     def run(self):
         TENANT_MEDIA_ROOT.mkdir(parents=True)