diff --git a/lib/api/apiUtils/object/checkReadLocation.js b/lib/api/apiUtils/object/checkReadLocation.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..960d3f0c6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/api/apiUtils/object/checkReadLocation.js
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/**
+ * checkReadLocation - verify that a bucket's default read location exists
+ * a for specified read data locator
+ * @param {Config} config - Config object
+ * @param {string} locationName - location constraint
+ * @param {string} objectKey - object key
+ * @param {string} bucketName - bucket name
+ * @return {Object | null} return object containing location information
+ * if location exists; otherwise, null
+ */
+function checkReadLocation(config, locationName, objectKey, bucketName) {
+    const readLocation = config.getLocationConstraint(locationName);
+    if (readLocation) {
+        const bucketMatch = readLocation.details &&
+            readLocation.details.bucketMatch;
+        const backendKey = bucketMatch ? objectKey :
+            `${bucketName}/${objectKey}`;
+        return {
+            location: locationName,
+            key: backendKey,
+            locationType: readLocation.type,
+        };
+    }
+    return null;
+}
+
+module.exports = checkReadLocation;
diff --git a/lib/api/objectGet.js b/lib/api/objectGet.js
index e9c214ea6b..80f6a9c9db 100644
--- a/lib/api/objectGet.js
+++ b/lib/api/objectGet.js
@@ -13,24 +13,13 @@ const locationHeaderCheck =
     require('./apiUtils/object/locationHeaderCheck');
 const getReplicationBackendDataLocator =
     require('./apiUtils/object/getReplicationBackendDataLocator');
+const checkReadLocation = require('./apiUtils/object/checkReadLocation');
+
 const { metadataValidateBucketAndObj } = require('../metadata/metadataUtils');
 const { config } = require('../Config');
-const { locationConstraints } = config;
 
 const validateHeaders = s3middleware.validateConditionalHeaders;
 
-function _retrieveDefaultRead(locationName, objectKey, bucketName) {
-    const readLocation = locationConstraints[locationName];
-    const bucketMatch = readLocation.details.bucketMatch;
-    const backendKey = bucketMatch ? objectKey :
-        `${bucketName}/${objectKey}`;
-    return {
-        location: locationName,
-        key: backendKey,
-        locationType: readLocation.type,
-    };
-}
-
 /**
  * GET Object - Get an object
  * @param {AuthInfo} authInfo - Instance of AuthInfo class with requester's info
@@ -145,11 +134,11 @@ function objectGet(authInfo, request, returnTagCount, log, callback) {
 
             const defReadLocation = bucket.getReadLocationConstraint();
             const defWriteLocation = bucket.getLocationConstraint();
-            const defReadDataLocator = _retrieveDefaultRead(
-                defReadLocation, objectKey, bucketName);
             let targetLocation = locCheckResult || null;
             if (objMD.replicationInfo.backends.length > 0 &&
                 defReadLocation !== defWriteLocation) {
+                const defReadDataLocator = checkReadLocation(config,
+                    defReadLocation, objectKey, bucketName);
                 targetLocation = targetLocation || defReadDataLocator || null;
             }
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/utils/checkReadLocation.js b/tests/unit/utils/checkReadLocation.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7db7b23281
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/utils/checkReadLocation.js
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+const assert = require('assert');
+
+const { ConfigObject } = require('../../../lib/Config');
+const checkReadLocation =
+    require('../../../lib/api/apiUtils/object/checkReadLocation');
+
+const locationConstraints = {  // eslint-disable-line quote-props
+    bucketmatch: {
+        type: 'aws_s3',
+        legacyAwsBehavior: true,
+        details: {
+            bucketMatch: true,
+        },
+    },
+    nobucketmatch: {
+        type: 'aws_s3',
+        legacyAwsBehavior: true,
+        details: {
+            bucketMatch: false,
+        },
+    },
+    'us-east-1': {
+        type: 'file',
+        legacyAwsBehavior: true,
+        details: {},
+    },
+};
+
+const bucket = 'testBucket';
+const key = 'objectKey';
+
+describe('Testing checkReadLocation', () => {
+    let config;
+
+    before(() => {
+        config = new ConfigObject();
+        config.setLocationConstraints(locationConstraints);
+    });
+
+    it('should return null if location does not exist', () => {
+        const testResult = checkReadLocation(
+            config, 'nonexistloc', key, bucket);
+        assert.deepStrictEqual(testResult, null);
+    });
+
+    it('should return correct results for bucketMatch true location', () => {
+        const testResult = checkReadLocation(
+            config, 'bucketmatch', key, bucket);
+        const expectedResult = {
+            location: 'bucketmatch',
+            key,
+            locationType: 'aws_s3',
+        };
+        assert.deepStrictEqual(testResult, expectedResult);
+    });
+
+    it('should return correct results for bucketMatch false location', () => {
+        const testResult = checkReadLocation(
+            config, 'nobucketmatch', key, bucket);
+        const expectedResult = {
+            location: 'nobucketmatch',
+            key: `${bucket}/${key}`,
+            locationType: 'aws_s3',
+        };
+        assert.deepStrictEqual(testResult, expectedResult);
+    });
+});