diff --git a/cmd/restic/global.go b/cmd/restic/global.go
index e0d94814b..f2e7c7517 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/global.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/global.go
@@ -485,6 +485,10 @@ func parseConfig(loc location.Location, opts options.Options) (interface{}, erro
 			cfg.Secret = os.Getenv("AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY")
 		}
 
+		if cfg.Region == "" {
+			cfg.Region = os.Getenv("AWS_REGION")
+		}
+
 		if err := opts.Apply(loc.Scheme, &cfg); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/internal/backend/s3/config.go b/internal/backend/s3/config.go
index 932806714..472d79e4a 100644
--- a/internal/backend/s3/config.go
+++ b/internal/backend/s3/config.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	Connections uint `option:"connections" help:"set a limit for the number of concurrent connections (default: 5)"`
 	MaxRetries  uint `option:"retries" help:"set the number of retries attempted"`
+	Region      string
 }
 
 // NewConfig returns a new Config with the default values filled in.
diff --git a/internal/backend/s3/s3.go b/internal/backend/s3/s3.go
index 02eda53be..acdb1bc4f 100644
--- a/internal/backend/s3/s3.go
+++ b/internal/backend/s3/s3.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func open(cfg Config, rt http.RoundTripper) (*Backend, error) {
 			},
 		},
 	})
-	client, err := minio.NewWithCredentials(cfg.Endpoint, creds, !cfg.UseHTTP, "")
+	client, err := minio.NewWithCredentials(cfg.Endpoint, creds, !cfg.UseHTTP, cfg.Region)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "minio.NewWithCredentials")
 	}