diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f0cb9f80389dc..7ff84270774e9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.amazonaws</groupId>
             <artifactId>aws-java-sdk</artifactId>
-            <version>1.3.10</version>
+            <version>1.3.11</version>
             <scope>compile</scope>
             <exclusions>
                 <!-- We need to exclude httpclient, since it pulls the wrong version -->
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cloud/aws/AwsEc2Service.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cloud/aws/AwsEc2Service.java
index c6be4b3173357..c8641f8968d6f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cloud/aws/AwsEc2Service.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cloud/aws/AwsEc2Service.java
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
 
 import com.amazonaws.ClientConfiguration;
 import com.amazonaws.Protocol;
-import com.amazonaws.auth.BasicAWSCredentials;
+import com.amazonaws.auth.*;
+import com.amazonaws.internal.StaticCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.services.ec2.AmazonEC2;
 import com.amazonaws.services.ec2.AmazonEC2Client;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticSearchException;
@@ -70,13 +71,6 @@ public synchronized AmazonEC2 client() {
         String account = componentSettings.get("access_key", settings.get("cloud.account"));
         String key = componentSettings.get("secret_key", settings.get("cloud.key"));
 
-        if (account == null) {
-            throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("No aws access_key defined for ec2 discovery");
-        }
-        if (key == null) {
-            throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("No aws secret_key defined for ec2 discovery");
-        }
-
         String proxyHost = componentSettings.get("proxy_host");
         if (proxyHost != null) {
             String portString = componentSettings.get("proxy_port", "80");
@@ -89,7 +83,21 @@ public synchronized AmazonEC2 client() {
             clientConfiguration.withProxyHost(proxyHost).setProxyPort(proxyPort);
         }
 
-        this.client = new AmazonEC2Client(new BasicAWSCredentials(account, key), clientConfiguration);
+        AWSCredentialsProvider credentials;
+
+        if (account == null && key == null) {
+            credentials = new AWSCredentialsProviderChain(
+                    new EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider(),
+                    new SystemPropertiesCredentialsProvider(),
+                    new InstanceProfileCredentialsProvider()
+            );
+        } else {
+            credentials = new AWSCredentialsProviderChain(
+                    new StaticCredentialsProvider(new BasicAWSCredentials(account, key))
+            );
+        }
+
+        this.client = new AmazonEC2Client(credentials, clientConfiguration);
 
         if (componentSettings.get("ec2.endpoint") != null) {
             client.setEndpoint(componentSettings.get("ec2.endpoint"));
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cloud/aws/AwsS3Service.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cloud/aws/AwsS3Service.java
index 52f343e850299..fcf89624140ff 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cloud/aws/AwsS3Service.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cloud/aws/AwsS3Service.java
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
 
 import com.amazonaws.ClientConfiguration;
 import com.amazonaws.Protocol;
-import com.amazonaws.auth.BasicAWSCredentials;
+import com.amazonaws.auth.*;
+import com.amazonaws.internal.StaticCredentialsProvider;
 import com.amazonaws.services.s3.AmazonS3;
 import com.amazonaws.services.s3.AmazonS3Client;
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticSearchException;
@@ -62,13 +63,6 @@ public synchronized AmazonS3 client() {
         String account = componentSettings.get("access_key", settings.get("cloud.account"));
         String key = componentSettings.get("secret_key", settings.get("cloud.key"));
 
-        if (account == null) {
-            throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("No s3 access_key defined for s3 gateway");
-        }
-        if (key == null) {
-            throw new ElasticSearchIllegalArgumentException("No s3 secret_key defined for s3 gateway");
-        }
-
         String proxyHost = componentSettings.get("proxy_host");
         if (proxyHost != null) {
             String portString = componentSettings.get("proxy_port", "80");
@@ -81,7 +75,20 @@ public synchronized AmazonS3 client() {
             clientConfiguration.withProxyHost(proxyHost).setProxyPort(proxyPort);
         }
 
-        this.client = new AmazonS3Client(new BasicAWSCredentials(account, key), clientConfiguration);
+        AWSCredentialsProvider credentials;
+
+        if (account == null && key == null) {
+            credentials = new AWSCredentialsProviderChain(
+                    new EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider(),
+                    new SystemPropertiesCredentialsProvider(),
+                    new InstanceProfileCredentialsProvider()
+            );
+        } else {
+            credentials = new AWSCredentialsProviderChain(
+                    new StaticCredentialsProvider(new BasicAWSCredentials(account, key))
+            );
+        }
+        this.client = new AmazonS3Client(credentials, clientConfiguration);
 
         if (componentSettings.get("s3.endpoint") != null) {
             client.setEndpoint(componentSettings.get("s3.endpoint"));