diff --git a/internal/backend/s3/config.go b/internal/backend/s3/config.go
index 4aea4c3d1..be2a78ce5 100644
--- a/internal/backend/s3/config.go
+++ b/internal/backend/s3/config.go
@@ -23,11 +23,12 @@ type Config struct {
 	Layout       string `option:"layout" help:"use this backend layout (default: auto-detect) (deprecated)"`
 	StorageClass string `option:"storage-class" help:"set S3 storage class (STANDARD, STANDARD_IA, ONEZONE_IA, INTELLIGENT_TIERING or REDUCED_REDUNDANCY)"`
 
-	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 `option:"region" help:"set region"`
-	BucketLookup  string `option:"bucket-lookup" help:"bucket lookup style: 'auto', 'dns', or 'path'"`
-	ListObjectsV1 bool   `option:"list-objects-v1" help:"use deprecated V1 api for ListObjects calls"`
+	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 `option:"region" help:"set region"`
+	BucketLookup        string `option:"bucket-lookup" help:"bucket lookup style: 'auto', 'dns', or 'path'"`
+	ListObjectsV1       bool   `option:"list-objects-v1" help:"use deprecated V1 api for ListObjects calls"`
+	UnsafeAnonymousAuth bool   `option:"unsafe-anonymous-auth" help:"use anonymous authentication"`
 }
 
 // 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 6fe9e384b..019f8471b 100644
--- a/internal/backend/s3/s3.go
+++ b/internal/backend/s3/s3.go
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ func open(ctx context.Context, cfg Config, rt http.RoundTripper) (*Backend, erro
 // getCredentials -- runs through the various credential types and returns the first one that works.
 // additionally if the user has specified a role to assume, it will do that as well.
 func getCredentials(cfg Config, tr http.RoundTripper) (*credentials.Credentials, error) {
+	if cfg.UnsafeAnonymousAuth {
+		return credentials.New(&credentials.Static{}), nil
+	}
+
 	// Chains all credential types, in the following order:
 	// 	- Static credentials provided by user
 	//	- AWS env vars (i.e. AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID)
@@ -131,9 +135,14 @@ func getCredentials(cfg Config, tr http.RoundTripper) (*credentials.Credentials,
 	}
 
 	if c.SignerType == credentials.SignatureAnonymous {
+		// Fail if no credentials were found to prevent repeated attempts to (unsuccessfully) retrieve new credentials.
+		// The first attempt still has to timeout which slows down restic usage considerably. Thus, migrate towards forcing
+		// users to explicitly decide between authenticated and anonymous access.
+		if feature.Flag.Enabled(feature.ExplicitS3AnonymousAuth) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("no credentials found. Use `-o s3.unsafe-anonymous-auth=true` for anonymous authentication")
+		}
+
 		debug.Log("using anonymous access for %#v", cfg.Endpoint)
-		// short circuit credentials resolution when using anonymous access
-		// otherwise the IAM provider would continuously try to (unsuccessfully) retrieve new credentials
 		creds = credentials.New(&credentials.Static{})
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/feature/registry.go b/internal/feature/registry.go
index 74d8a2f61..6b8f6b397 100644
--- a/internal/feature/registry.go
+++ b/internal/feature/registry.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const (
 	DeprecateLegacyIndex    FlagName = "deprecate-legacy-index"
 	DeprecateS3LegacyLayout FlagName = "deprecate-s3-legacy-layout"
 	DeviceIDForHardlinks    FlagName = "device-id-for-hardlinks"
+	ExplicitS3AnonymousAuth FlagName = "explicit-s3-anonymous-auth"
 	SafeForgetKeepTags      FlagName = "safe-forget-keep-tags"
 )
 
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ func init() {
 		DeprecateLegacyIndex:    {Type: Beta, Description: "disable support for index format used by restic 0.1.0. Use `restic repair index` to update the index if necessary."},
 		DeprecateS3LegacyLayout: {Type: Beta, Description: "disable support for S3 legacy layout used up to restic 0.7.0. Use `RESTIC_FEATURES=deprecate-s3-legacy-layout=false restic migrate s3_layout` to migrate your S3 repository if necessary."},
 		DeviceIDForHardlinks:    {Type: Alpha, Description: "store deviceID only for hardlinks to reduce metadata changes for example when using btrfs subvolumes. Will be removed in a future restic version after repository format 3 is available"},
+		ExplicitS3AnonymousAuth: {Type: Beta, Description: "forbid anonymous S3 authentication unless `-o s3.unsafe-anonymous-auth=true` is set"},
 		SafeForgetKeepTags:      {Type: Beta, Description: "prevent deleting all snapshots if the tag passed to `forget --keep-tags tagname` does not exist"},
 	})
 }