diff --git a/salt/fileclient.py b/salt/fileclient.py
index 30c6e33214..a271b4182a 100644
--- a/salt/fileclient.py
+++ b/salt/fileclient.py
@@ -563,7 +563,9 @@ class Client(object):
                                     service_url=self.opts.get('s3.service_url',
                                                               None),
                                     verify_ssl=self.opts.get('s3.verify_ssl',
-                                                              True))
+                                                              True),
+                                    location=self.opts.get('s3.location',
+                                                              None))
                 return dest
             except Exception:
                 raise MinionError('Could not fetch from {0}'.format(url))
diff --git a/salt/fileserver/s3fs.py b/salt/fileserver/s3fs.py
index 0d41b54f0b..34ff067acc 100644
--- a/salt/fileserver/s3fs.py
+++ b/salt/fileserver/s3fs.py
@@ -320,8 +320,11 @@ def _get_s3_key():
     verify_ssl = __opts__['s3.verify_ssl'] \
         if 's3.verify_ssl' in __opts__ \
         else None
+    location = __opts__['s3.location'] \
+        if 's3.location' in __opts__ \
+        else None
 
-    return key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl
+    return key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location
 
 
 def _init():
@@ -391,7 +394,7 @@ def _refresh_buckets_cache_file(cache_file):
 
     log.debug('Refreshing buckets cache file')
 
-    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl = _get_s3_key()
+    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location = _get_s3_key()
     metadata = {}
 
     # helper s3 query function
@@ -402,6 +405,7 @@ def _refresh_buckets_cache_file(cache_file):
                 bucket=bucket,
                 service_url=service_url,
                 verify_ssl=verify_ssl,
+                location=location,
                 return_bin=False)
 
     if _is_env_per_bucket():
@@ -582,7 +586,7 @@ def _get_file_from_s3(metadata, saltenv, bucket_name, path, cached_file_path):
     Checks the local cache for the file, if it's old or missing go grab the
     file from S3 and update the cache
     '''
-    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl = _get_s3_key()
+    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location = _get_s3_key()
 
     # check the local cache...
     if os.path.isfile(cached_file_path):
@@ -617,6 +621,7 @@ def _get_file_from_s3(metadata, saltenv, bucket_name, path, cached_file_path):
                         bucket=bucket_name,
                         service_url=service_url,
                         verify_ssl=verify_ssl,
+                        location=location,
                         path=_quote(path),
                         local_file=cached_file_path,
                         full_headers=True
@@ -645,6 +650,7 @@ def _get_file_from_s3(metadata, saltenv, bucket_name, path, cached_file_path):
         bucket=bucket_name,
         service_url=service_url,
         verify_ssl=verify_ssl,
+        location=location,
         path=_quote(path),
         local_file=cached_file_path
     )
diff --git a/salt/modules/s3.py b/salt/modules/s3.py
index 347fbfd803..47e2631604 100644
--- a/salt/modules/s3.py
+++ b/salt/modules/s3.py
@@ -30,12 +30,18 @@ Connection module for Amazon S3
 
     SSL verification may also be turned off in the configuration:
 
-    s3.verify_ssl: False
+        s3.verify_ssl: False
 
     This is required if using S3 bucket names that contain a period, as
     these will not match Amazon's S3 wildcard certificates. Certificate
     verification is enabled by default.
 
+    AWS region may be specified in the configuration:
+
+        s3.location: eu-central-1
+
+    Default is us-east-1.
+
     This module should be usable to query other S3-like services, such as
     Eucalyptus.
 
@@ -61,7 +67,7 @@ def __virtual__():
 
 
 def delete(bucket, path=None, action=None, key=None, keyid=None,
-           service_url=None, verify_ssl=None):
+           service_url=None, verify_ssl=None, location=None):
     '''
     Delete a bucket, or delete an object from a bucket.
 
@@ -73,8 +79,8 @@ def delete(bucket, path=None, action=None, key=None, keyid=None,
 
         salt myminion s3.delete mybucket remoteobject
     '''
-    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl = _get_key(key, keyid, service_url,
-                                                   verify_ssl)
+    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location = _get_key(
+        key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location)
 
     return salt.utils.s3.query(method='DELETE',
                                bucket=bucket,
@@ -83,12 +89,13 @@ def delete(bucket, path=None, action=None, key=None, keyid=None,
                                key=key,
                                keyid=keyid,
                                service_url=service_url,
-                               verify_ssl=verify_ssl)
+                               verify_ssl=verify_ssl,
+                               location=location)
 
 
 def get(bucket=None, path=None, return_bin=False, action=None,
         local_file=None, key=None, keyid=None, service_url=None,
-        verify_ssl=None):
+        verify_ssl=None, location=None):
     '''
     List the contents of a bucket, or return an object from a bucket. Set
     return_bin to True in order to retrieve an object wholesale. Otherwise,
@@ -140,8 +147,8 @@ def get(bucket=None, path=None, return_bin=False, action=None,
 
         salt myminion s3.get mybucket myfile.png action=acl
     '''
-    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl = _get_key(key, keyid, service_url,
-                                                   verify_ssl)
+    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location = _get_key(
+        key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location)
 
     return salt.utils.s3.query(method='GET',
                                bucket=bucket,
@@ -152,11 +159,12 @@ def get(bucket=None, path=None, return_bin=False, action=None,
                                key=key,
                                keyid=keyid,
                                service_url=service_url,
-                               verify_ssl=verify_ssl)
+                               verify_ssl=verify_ssl,
+                               location=location)
 
 
 def head(bucket, path=None, key=None, keyid=None, service_url=None,
-         verify_ssl=None):
+         verify_ssl=None, location=None):
     '''
     Return the metadata for a bucket, or an object in a bucket.
 
@@ -167,8 +175,8 @@ def head(bucket, path=None, key=None, keyid=None, service_url=None,
         salt myminion s3.head mybucket
         salt myminion s3.head mybucket myfile.png
     '''
-    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl = _get_key(key, keyid, service_url,
-                                                   verify_ssl)
+    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location = _get_key(
+        key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location)
 
     return salt.utils.s3.query(method='HEAD',
                                bucket=bucket,
@@ -177,11 +185,12 @@ def head(bucket, path=None, key=None, keyid=None, service_url=None,
                                keyid=keyid,
                                service_url=service_url,
                                verify_ssl=verify_ssl,
+                               location=location,
                                full_headers=True)
 
 
 def put(bucket, path=None, return_bin=False, action=None, local_file=None,
-        key=None, keyid=None, service_url=None, verify_ssl=None):
+        key=None, keyid=None, service_url=None, verify_ssl=None, location=None):
     '''
     Create a new bucket, or upload an object to a bucket.
 
@@ -197,8 +206,8 @@ def put(bucket, path=None, return_bin=False, action=None, local_file=None,
 
         salt myminion s3.put mybucket remotepath local_file=/path/to/file
     '''
-    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl = _get_key(key, keyid, service_url,
-                                                   verify_ssl)
+    key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location = _get_key(
+        key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location)
 
     return salt.utils.s3.query(method='PUT',
                                bucket=bucket,
@@ -209,10 +218,11 @@ def put(bucket, path=None, return_bin=False, action=None, local_file=None,
                                key=key,
                                keyid=keyid,
                                service_url=service_url,
-                               verify_ssl=verify_ssl)
+                               verify_ssl=verify_ssl,
+                               location=location)
 
 
-def _get_key(key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl):
+def _get_key(key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location):
     '''
     Examine the keys, and populate as necessary
     '''
@@ -234,4 +244,7 @@ def _get_key(key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl):
     if verify_ssl is None:
         verify_ssl = True
 
-    return key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl
+    if location is None and __salt__['config.option']('s3.location') is not None:
+        location = __salt__['config.option']('s3.location')
+
+    return key, keyid, service_url, verify_ssl, location
diff --git a/salt/pillar/s3.py b/salt/pillar/s3.py
index fb364faec3..b93a45852c 100644
--- a/salt/pillar/s3.py
+++ b/salt/pillar/s3.py
@@ -96,12 +96,14 @@ _s3_sync_on_update = True  # sync cache on update rather than jit
 
 
 class S3Credentials(object):
-    def __init__(self, key, keyid, bucket, service_url, verify_ssl=True):
+    def __init__(self, key, keyid, bucket, service_url, verify_ssl,
+                 location):
         self.key = key
         self.keyid = keyid
         self.bucket = bucket
         self.service_url = service_url
         self.verify_ssl = verify_ssl
+        self.location = location
 
 
 def ext_pillar(minion_id,
@@ -110,6 +112,7 @@ def ext_pillar(minion_id,
                key,
                keyid,
                verify_ssl=True,
+               location=None,
                multiple_env=False,
                environment='base',
                prefix='',
@@ -118,7 +121,8 @@ def ext_pillar(minion_id,
     Execute a command and read the output as YAML
     '''
 
-    s3_creds = S3Credentials(key, keyid, bucket, service_url, verify_ssl)
+    s3_creds = S3Credentials(key, keyid, bucket, service_url, verify_ssl,
+                             location)
 
     # normpath is needed to remove appended '/' if root is empty string.
     pillar_dir = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(_get_cache_dir(), environment,
@@ -230,6 +234,7 @@ def _refresh_buckets_cache_file(creds, cache_file, multiple_env, environment, pr
             bucket=creds.bucket,
             service_url=creds.service_url,
             verify_ssl=creds.verify_ssl,
+            location=creds.location,
             return_bin=False,
             params={'prefix': prefix})
 
@@ -368,5 +373,6 @@ def _get_file_from_s3(creds, metadata, saltenv, bucket, path,
         service_url=creds.service_url,
         path=_quote(path),
         local_file=cached_file_path,
-        verify_ssl=creds.verify_ssl
+        verify_ssl=creds.verify_ssl,
+        location=creds.location
     )
diff --git a/salt/utils/iam.py b/salt/utils/iam.py
index 54dfb7c633..6b88ed0953 100644
--- a/salt/utils/iam.py
+++ b/salt/utils/iam.py
@@ -63,8 +63,25 @@ def _convert_key_to_str(key):
     return key
 
 
+def get_iam_region(version='latest', url='http://169.254.169.254',
+                   timeout=None, num_retries=5):
+    '''
+    Gets instance identity document and returns region
+    '''
+    instance_identity_url = '{0}/{1}/latest/dynamic/instance-identity/document'.format(url, version)
+
+    region = None
+    try:
+        document = _retry_get_url(instance_identity_url, num_retries, timeout)
+        region = json.loads(document)['region']
+    except (ValueError, TypeError, KeyError):
+        # JSON failed to decode
+        log.error('Failed to read region from instance metadata. Giving up.')
+    return region
+
+
 def get_iam_metadata(version='latest', url='http://169.254.169.254',
-        timeout=None, num_retries=5):
+                     timeout=None, num_retries=5):
     '''
     Grabs the first IAM role from this instances metadata if it exists.
     '''
diff --git a/salt/utils/s3.py b/salt/utils/s3.py
index f198122a87..3726f62b64 100644
--- a/salt/utils/s3.py
+++ b/salt/utils/s3.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ DEFAULT_LOCATION = 'us-east-1'
 def query(key, keyid, method='GET', params=None, headers=None,
           requesturl=None, return_url=False, bucket=None, service_url=None,
           path='', return_bin=False, action=None, local_file=None,
-          verify_ssl=True, location=DEFAULT_LOCATION, full_headers=False):
+          verify_ssl=True, location=None, full_headers=False):
     '''
     Perform a query against an S3-like API. This function requires that a
     secret key and the id for that key are passed in. For instance:
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ def query(key, keyid, method='GET', params=None, headers=None,
         s3.keyid: GKTADJGHEIQSXMKKRBJ08H
         s3.key: askdjghsdfjkghWupUjasdflkdfklgjsdfjajkghs
 
-    A service_url may also be specified in the configuration::
+    If keyid or key is not specified, an attempt to fetch them from EC2 IAM
+    metadata service will be made.
+
+    A service_url may also be specified in the configuration:
 
         s3.service_url: s3.amazonaws.com
 
@@ -58,6 +61,13 @@ def query(key, keyid, method='GET', params=None, headers=None,
     This is required if using S3 bucket names that contain a period, as
     these will not match Amazon's S3 wildcard certificates. Certificate
     verification is enabled by default.
+
+    A region may be specified:
+
+        s3.location: eu-central-1
+
+    If region is not specified, an attempt to fetch the region from EC2 IAM
+    metadata service will be made. Failing that, default is us-east-1
     '''
     if not HAS_REQUESTS:
         log.error('There was an error: requests is required for s3 access')
@@ -77,12 +87,15 @@ def query(key, keyid, method='GET', params=None, headers=None,
         endpoint = service_url
 
     # Try grabbing the credentials from the EC2 instance IAM metadata if available
-    token = None
     if not key or not keyid:
         iam_creds = iam.get_iam_metadata()
         key = iam_creds['secret_key']
         keyid = iam_creds['access_key']
-        token = iam_creds['security_token']
+
+    if not location:
+        location = iam.get_iam_region()
+    if not location:
+        location = DEFAULT_LOCATION
 
     data = ''
     if method == 'PUT':
diff --git a/tests/unit/modules/s3_test.py b/tests/unit/modules/s3_test.py
index b883beead0..4f0034121d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/modules/s3_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit/modules/s3_test.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class S3TestCase(TestCase):
         '''
         with patch.object(s3, '_get_key',
                           return_value=('key', 'keyid', 'service_url',
-                                        'verify_ssl')):
+                                        'verify_ssl', 'location')):
             with patch.object(salt.utils.s3, 'query', return_value='A'):
                 self.assertEqual(s3.delete('bucket'), 'A')
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class S3TestCase(TestCase):
         '''
         with patch.object(s3, '_get_key',
                           return_value=('key', 'keyid', 'service_url',
-                                        'verify_ssl')):
+                                        'verify_ssl', 'location')):
             with patch.object(salt.utils.s3, 'query', return_value='A'):
                 self.assertEqual(s3.get(), 'A')
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class S3TestCase(TestCase):
         '''
         with patch.object(s3, '_get_key',
                           return_value=('key', 'keyid', 'service_url',
-                                        'verify_ssl')):
+                                        'verify_ssl', 'location')):
             with patch.object(salt.utils.s3, 'query', return_value='A'):
                 self.assertEqual(s3.head('bucket'), 'A')
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class S3TestCase(TestCase):
         '''
         with patch.object(s3, '_get_key',
                           return_value=('key', 'keyid', 'service_url',
-                                        'verify_ssl')):
+                                        'verify_ssl', 'location')):
             with patch.object(salt.utils.s3, 'query', return_value='A'):
                 self.assertEqual(s3.put('bucket'), 'A')