diff --git a/util/pkg/vfs/BUILD.bazel b/util/pkg/vfs/BUILD.bazel
index fa74325fce143..0573fa6a9a6d7 100644
--- a/util/pkg/vfs/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/util/pkg/vfs/BUILD.bazel
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ go_library(
         "//vendor/github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/awserr:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/credentials:go_default_library",
+        "//vendor/github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/ec2metadata:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/endpoints:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/session:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/ec2:go_default_library",
diff --git a/util/pkg/vfs/s3context.go b/util/pkg/vfs/s3context.go
index 7cfa08bdfd552..9b99793339452 100644
--- a/util/pkg/vfs/s3context.go
+++ b/util/pkg/vfs/s3context.go
@@ -18,13 +18,18 @@ package vfs
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"regexp"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/credentials"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/ec2metadata"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/endpoints"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/session"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/ec2"
@@ -150,8 +155,19 @@ func (s *S3Context) getDetailsForBucket(bucket string) (*S3BucketDetails, error)
 	}
 
 	awsRegion := os.Getenv("AWS_REGION")
+	if awsRegion == "" && isRunningOnEC2() {
+		region, err := getRegionFromMetadata()
+		if err != nil {
+			klog.V(2).Infof("unable to get region from metadata:%v", err)
+		} else {
+			awsRegion = region
+			klog.V(2).Infof("got region from metadata: %q", awsRegion)
+		}
+	}
+
 	if awsRegion == "" {
 		awsRegion = "us-east-1"
+		klog.V(2).Infof("defaulting region to %q", awsRegion)
 	}
 
 	if err := validateRegion(awsRegion); err != nil {
@@ -298,6 +314,57 @@ func bruteforceBucketLocation(region *string, request *s3.GetBucketLocationInput
 	}
 }
 
+// isRunningOnEC2 determines if we could be running on EC2.
+// It is used to avoid a call to the metadata service to get the current region,
+// because that call is slow if not running on EC2
+func isRunningOnEC2() bool {
+	if runtime.GOOS == "linux" {
+		// Approach based on https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/identify_ec2_instances.html
+		productUUID, err := ioutil.ReadFile("/sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_uuid")
+		if err != nil {
+			klog.V(2).Infof("unable to read /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_uuid, assuming not running on EC2: %v", err)
+			return false
+		}
+
+		s := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(string(productUUID)))
+		if strings.HasPrefix(s, "ec2") {
+			klog.V(2).Infof("product_uuid is %q, assuming running on EC2", s)
+			return true
+		} else {
+			klog.V(2).Infof("product_uuid is %q, assuming not running on EC2", s)
+			return false
+		}
+	} else {
+		klog.V(2).Infof("GOOS=%q, assuming not running on EC2", runtime.GOOS)
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
+// getRegionFromMetadata queries the metadata service for the current region, if running in EC2
+func getRegionFromMetadata() (string, error) {
+	// Use an even shorter timeout, to minimize impact when not running on EC2
+	// Note that we still retry a few times, this works out a little under a 1s delay
+	shortTimeout := &aws.Config{
+		HTTPClient: &http.Client{
+			Timeout: 100 * time.Millisecond,
+		},
+	}
+
+	metadataSession, err := session.NewSession(shortTimeout)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to build session: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	metadata := ec2metadata.New(metadataSession)
+	metadataRegion, err := metadata.Region()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to get region from metadata: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return metadataRegion, nil
+}
+
 func validateRegion(region string) error {
 	resolver := endpoints.DefaultResolver()
 	partitions := resolver.(endpoints.EnumPartitions).Partitions()
@@ -308,7 +375,7 @@ func validateRegion(region string) error {
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a valid region\nPlease check that your region is formatted correctly (i.e. us-east-1)", region)
+	return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a valid region\nPlease check that your region is formatted correctly (e.g. us-east-1)", region)
 }
 
 func VFSPath(url string) (string, error) {