diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ca61ffaa..13cf98cb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -34,3 +34,14 @@ write(p, "some data")
 read(p, byte_range=1:4)  # returns b"some"
 ```
 
+## Testing
+
+Some of the tests involve using a temporary AWS S3 bucket. For these tests to succeed you'll
+need to set your current AWS profile to use a role which allows for `s3:*` access to the `arn:aws:s3:::ocaws.jl.test.*` resource.
+
+If you do not have AWS access or lack the required permission you can use the
+`AWSS3_TESTSETS` environmental variable to control which testsets run:
+
+```bash
+AWSS3_TESTSETS=MinIO julia --project -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.test()'
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/awss3.jl b/test/awss3.jl
index ec309925..cfc1f4d7 100644
--- a/test/awss3.jl
+++ b/test/awss3.jl
@@ -1,14 +1,23 @@
+_has_failed(testset::Test.DefaultTestSet) = any(r -> !(r isa Test.Pass), testset.results)
+
 function awss3_tests(config)
-    bucket_name =
-        "ocaws.jl.test." * lowercase(Dates.format(now(Dates.UTC), "yyyymmddTHHMMSSZ"))
+    bucket_name = begin
+        "ocaws.jl.test." * Dates.format(now(Dates.UTC), dateformat"yyyymmdd\tHHMMSS\z")
+    end
 
-    @testset "Create Bucket" begin
+    t = @testset "Create Bucket" begin
         s3_create_bucket(config, bucket_name)
+
         @test bucket_name in s3_list_buckets(config)
         is_aws(config) && s3_enable_versioning(config, bucket_name)
         sleep(1)
     end
 
+    if _has_failed(t)
+        @warn "Bucket creation has failed. Skipping remaining tests which rely on bucket: $bucket_name"
+        return nothing
+    end
+
     @testset "Bucket Tagging" begin
         @test isempty(s3_get_tags(config, bucket_name))
         tags = Dict("A" => "1", "B" => "2", "C" => "3")
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 82a9a5ef..102e67af 100755
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ using FilePathsBase.TestPaths
 using UUIDs: uuid4
 using JSON3
 
+const AWSS3_TESTSETS = split(get(ENV, "AWSS3_TESTSETS", "MinIO,S3"), ',')
+
 is_aws(config) = config isa AWSConfig
 
 # Load the test functions
@@ -19,39 +21,48 @@ include("s3path.jl") # creates `awss3_tests(config)`
 include("awss3.jl") # creates `s3path_tests(config)`
 
 @testset "AWSS3.jl" begin
-    if VERSION >= v"1.5"
-        using Minio
-        AWS.aws_account_number(::Minio.MinioConfig) = "123"
-
-        # We run most tests under Minio. This can be done locally by those
-        # without access to the s3 bucket under which CI is performed.
-        # We then run all tests with s3 directly.
-
-        port = 9005
-        minio_server = Minio.Server([mktempdir()]; address="localhost:$port")
-
-        try
-            run(minio_server; wait=false)
-            sleep(0.5)  # give the server just a bit of time, though it is amazingly fast to start
-            config = global_aws_config(
-                MinioConfig(
-                    "http://localhost:$port"; username="minioadmin", password="minioadmin"
-                ),
+    @testset "MinIO" begin
+        if "MinIO" in AWSS3_TESTSETS && VERSION >= v"1.5"
+            using Minio
+            AWS.aws_account_number(::Minio.MinioConfig) = "123"
+
+            # We run most tests under Minio. This can be done locally by those
+            # without access to the s3 bucket under which CI is performed.
+            # We then run all tests with s3 directly.
+
+            port = 9005
+            minio_server = Minio.Server([mktempdir()]; address="localhost:$port")
+
+            minio_config = MinioConfig(
+                "http://localhost:$port"; username="minioadmin", password="minioadmin"
             )
-            @testset "Minio" begin
-                awss3_tests(config)
-                s3path_tests(config)
+
+            try
+                run(minio_server; wait=false)
+                sleep(0.5)  # give the server just a bit of time, though it is amazingly fast to start
+
+                awss3_tests(minio_config)
+                s3path_tests(minio_config)
+            finally
+                # Make sure we kill the server even if a test failed.
+                kill(minio_server)
             end
-        finally
-            # Make sure we kill the server even if a test failed.
-            kill(minio_server)
+        elseif VERSION < v"1.5"
+            @warn "Skipping MinIO tests as they can only be run on Julia ≥ 1.5"
+        else
+            @warn "Skipping MinIO tests"
         end
     end
 
-    # Set `AWSConfig` as the default for the following tests
-    aws = global_aws_config(AWSConfig())
     @testset "S3" begin
-        awss3_tests(aws)
-        s3path_tests(aws)
+        if "S3" in AWSS3_TESTSETS
+            # Set `AWSConfig` as the default for the following tests
+            aws_config = AWSConfig()
+
+            awss3_tests(aws_config)
+            s3path_tests(aws_config)
+        else
+            @warn "Skipping S3 tests"
+        end
     end
 end
diff --git a/test/s3path.jl b/test/s3path.jl
index c3f7fa4c..c878e5bc 100644
--- a/test/s3path.jl
+++ b/test/s3path.jl
@@ -285,8 +285,9 @@ end
 
 # This is the main entrypoint for the S3Path tests
 function s3path_tests(config)
-    bucket_name =
-        "ocaws.jl.test." * lowercase(Dates.format(now(Dates.UTC), "yyyymmddTHHMMSSZ"))
+    bucket_name = begin
+        "ocaws.jl.test." * Dates.format(now(Dates.UTC), dateformat"yyyymmdd\tHHMMSS\z")
+    end
 
     s3_create_bucket(config, bucket_name)
     root = Path("s3://$bucket_name/pathset-root/")