diff --git a/presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/PrestoS3ClientFactory.java b/presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/PrestoS3ClientFactory.java
index e493ac666c702..9d4e1fa832df4 100644
--- a/presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/PrestoS3ClientFactory.java
+++ b/presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/PrestoS3ClientFactory.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSStaticCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.BasicAWSCredentials;
+import com.amazonaws.auth.DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.InstanceProfileCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.metrics.RequestMetricCollector;
 import com.amazonaws.regions.Region;
@@ -151,7 +152,7 @@ private AWSCredentialsProvider getAwsCredentialsProvider(Configuration conf, Hiv
             return getCustomAWSCredentialsProvider(conf, providerClass);
         }
 
-        throw new RuntimeException("S3 credentials not configured");
+        return DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain.getInstance();
     }
 
     private static AWSCredentialsProvider getCustomAWSCredentialsProvider(Configuration conf, String providerClass)
diff --git a/presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/PrestoS3FileSystem.java b/presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/PrestoS3FileSystem.java
index 8669a8c060c7b..616abc992037c 100644
--- a/presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/PrestoS3FileSystem.java
+++ b/presto-hive/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/PrestoS3FileSystem.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSStaticCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.BasicAWSCredentials;
+import com.amazonaws.auth.DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.InstanceProfileCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.client.builder.AwsClientBuilder.EndpointConfiguration;
 import com.amazonaws.event.ProgressEvent;
@@ -754,7 +755,7 @@ private AWSCredentialsProvider createAwsCredentialsProvider(URI uri, Configurati
             return getCustomAWSCredentialsProvider(uri, conf, providerClass);
         }
 
-        throw new RuntimeException("S3 credentials not configured");
+        return DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain.getInstance();
     }
 
     private static AWSCredentialsProvider getCustomAWSCredentialsProvider(URI uri, Configuration conf, String providerClass)
diff --git a/presto-hive/src/test/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/TestPrestoS3FileSystem.java b/presto-hive/src/test/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/TestPrestoS3FileSystem.java
index 769f25f919857..4d8a17bbc8b56 100644
--- a/presto-hive/src/test/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/TestPrestoS3FileSystem.java
+++ b/presto-hive/src/test/java/com/facebook/presto/hive/s3/TestPrestoS3FileSystem.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSCredentials;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSStaticCredentialsProvider;
+import com.amazonaws.auth.DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain;
 import com.amazonaws.auth.InstanceProfileCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.services.s3.AmazonS3Client;
 import com.amazonaws.services.s3.AmazonS3EncryptionClient;
@@ -145,8 +146,8 @@ public void testInstanceCredentialsEnabled()
         }
     }
 
-    @Test(expectedExceptions = RuntimeException.class, expectedExceptionsMessageRegExp = "S3 credentials not configured")
-    public void testInstanceCredentialsDisabled()
+    @Test
+    public void testDefaultCredentials()
             throws Exception
     {
         Configuration config = new Configuration();
@@ -154,6 +155,7 @@ public void testInstanceCredentialsDisabled()
 
         try (PrestoS3FileSystem fs = new PrestoS3FileSystem()) {
             fs.initialize(new URI("s3n://test-bucket/"), config);
+            assertInstanceOf(getAwsCredentialsProvider(fs), DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain.class);
         }
     }