diff --git a/.github/mergify.yml b/.github/mergify.yml
index 91cd8881237..38f025c7814 100644
--- a/.github/mergify.yml
+++ b/.github/mergify.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,17 @@ pull_request_rules:
       - base=master
     actions:
       queue:
+        name: default
+
+  # Adds the Pr to the batch queue, so that we can run the interop tests. See the `external_prs` queue for more info.
+  - name: Add to batch merge queue
+    conditions:
+      # All branch protection rules are implicit: https://docs.mergify.com/conditions/#about-branch-protection
+      - label=send-it-batch
+      - base=master
+    actions:
+      queue:
+        name: external_prs
 
   - name: Add approved dependabot PRs to merge queue
     conditions:
@@ -40,6 +51,7 @@ pull_request_rules:
       - base=master
     actions:
       queue:
+        name: default
 
   - name: Remove reviews on updates after PR is queued for merging
     conditions:
@@ -74,3 +86,8 @@ pull_request_rules:
 queue_rules:
   - name: default
     conditions: []
+  # External PR's don't have access to secrets and variables, therefore they don't run the interop tests.
+  # using a batch queue allows to circumvent that as mergify creates it from an internal branch.
+  - name: external_prs
+    conditions: []
+    batch_size: 1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/interop-test.yml b/.github/workflows/interop-test.yml
index e9446d013d7..c88579be68a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/interop-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/interop-test.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ jobs:
           AWS_BUCKET_NAME: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_BUCKET_NAME }}
           AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
           AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+          AWS_REGION: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_REGION }}
           FLAVOUR: ${{ matrix.flavour }}
 
       - name: Run ${{ matrix.flavour }} tests
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ jobs:
           s3-cache-bucket: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_BUCKET_NAME }}
           s3-access-key-id: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
           s3-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+          aws-region: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_REGION }}
           worker-count: 16
   run-holepunching-interop:
     name: Run hole-punch interoperability tests
@@ -56,4 +58,5 @@ jobs:
           s3-cache-bucket: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_BUCKET_NAME }}
           s3-access-key-id: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
           s3-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+          aws-region: ${{ vars.S3_LIBP2P_BUILD_CACHE_AWS_REGION }}
           worker-count: 16
diff --git a/scripts/build-interop-image.sh b/scripts/build-interop-image.sh
index 4b96e353f9a..ff6f344976c 100755
--- a/scripts/build-interop-image.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-interop-image.sh
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ CACHE_TO=""
 
 # If we have credentials, write to cache
 if [[ -n "${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}" ]]; then
-  CACHE_TO="--cache-to   type=s3,mode=max,bucket=${AWS_BUCKET_NAME},region=ap-southeast-2,prefix=buildCache,name=${FLAVOUR}-rust-libp2p-head"
+  CACHE_TO="--cache-to   type=s3,mode=max,bucket=${AWS_BUCKET_NAME},region=${AWS_REGION},prefix=buildCache,name=${FLAVOUR}-rust-libp2p-head"
 fi
 
 docker buildx build \
   --load \
   $CACHE_TO \
-  --cache-from type=s3,mode=max,bucket=${AWS_BUCKET_NAME},region=ap-southeast-2,prefix=buildCache,name=${FLAVOUR}-rust-libp2p-head \
+  --cache-from type=s3,mode=max,bucket=${AWS_BUCKET_NAME},region=${AWS_REGION},prefix=buildCache,name=${FLAVOUR}-rust-libp2p-head \
   -t ${FLAVOUR}-rust-libp2p-head \
   . \
   -f interop-tests/Dockerfile.${FLAVOUR}