diff --git a/weed/command/filer.go b/weed/command/filer.go
index a15075abb..a0a90b251 100644
--- a/weed/command/filer.go
+++ b/weed/command/filer.go
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ func init() {
 	filerS3Options.metricsHttpIp = cmdFiler.Flag.String("s3.metricsIp", "", "metrics listen ip. If empty, default to same as -s3.ip.bind option.")
 	cmdFiler.Flag.Bool("s3.allowEmptyFolder", true, "deprecated, ignored. Empty folder cleanup is now automatic.")
 	filerS3Options.allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty = cmdFiler.Flag.Bool("s3.allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty", true, "allow recursive deleting all entries along with bucket")
+	filerS3Options.autoCreateBucket = cmdFiler.Flag.Bool("s3.autoCreateBucket", true, "create the bucket on upload if it does not exist, for admin identities only")
 	filerS3Options.localSocket = cmdFiler.Flag.String("s3.localSocket", "", "default to /tmp/seaweedfs-s3-<port>.sock")
 	filerS3Options.tlsCACertificate = cmdFiler.Flag.String("s3.cacert.file", "", "path to the TLS CA certificate file")
 	filerS3Options.tlsVerifyClientCert = cmdFiler.Flag.Bool("s3.tlsVerifyClientCert", false, "whether to verify the client's certificate")
diff --git a/weed/command/mini.go b/weed/command/mini.go
index a02d40e7d..3dd5853ff 100644
--- a/weed/command/mini.go
+++ b/weed/command/mini.go
@@ -389,6 +389,7 @@ var (
 	miniS3Config                    = cmdMini.Flag.String("s3.config", "", "path to the S3 config file")
 	miniIamConfig                   = cmdMini.Flag.String("s3.iam.config", "", "path to the advanced IAM config file for S3")
 	miniS3AllowDeleteBucketNotEmpty = cmdMini.Flag.Bool("s3.allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty", true, "allow recursive deleting all entries along with bucket")
+	miniS3AutoCreateBucket          = cmdMini.Flag.Bool("s3.autoCreateBucket", true, "create the bucket on upload if it does not exist, for admin identities only")
 	miniBucket                      = cmdMini.Flag.String("bucket", "", "comma-separated S3 bucket names to create on startup if they do not already exist; leave empty to skip. Falls back to S3_BUCKET env var.")
 	miniTableBucket                 = cmdMini.Flag.String("tableBucket", "", "comma-separated S3 Tables bucket names to create on startup if they do not already exist; leave empty to skip. Falls back to S3_TABLE_BUCKET env var.")
 )
@@ -518,6 +519,7 @@ func initMiniS3Flags() {
 	miniS3Options.iamConfig = miniIamConfig
 	miniS3Options.auditLogConfig = cmdMini.Flag.String("s3.auditLogConfig", "", "path to the audit log config file")
 	miniS3Options.allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty = miniS3AllowDeleteBucketNotEmpty
+	miniS3Options.autoCreateBucket = miniS3AutoCreateBucket
 	miniS3Options.externalUrl = cmdMini.Flag.String("s3.externalUrl", "", "the external URL clients use to connect (e.g. https://api.example.com:9000). Used for S3 signature verification behind a reverse proxy. Falls back to S3_EXTERNAL_URL env var.")
 	miniS3Options.defaultFileMode = cmdMini.Flag.String("s3.defaultFileMode", "", "default file mode for S3 uploaded objects, e.g. 0660, 0644, 0666")
 	miniS3Options.cacheSizeMB = cmdMini.Flag.Int64("s3.cacheCapacityMB", 0, "in-memory chunk cache capacity in MB for S3 GETs shared across requests (0 disables)")
diff --git a/weed/command/s3.go b/weed/command/s3.go
index e57d33de8..6d1037071 100644
--- a/weed/command/s3.go
+++ b/weed/command/s3.go
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ type S3Options struct {
 	metricsHttpPort           *int
 	metricsHttpIp             *string
 	allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty *bool
+	autoCreateBucket          *bool
 	auditLogConfig            *string
 	localFilerSocket          *string
 	dataCenter                *string
@@ -104,6 +105,7 @@ func init() {
 	s3StandaloneOptions.metricsHttpIp = cmdS3.Flag.String("metricsIp", "", "metrics listen ip. If empty, default to same as -ip.bind option.")
 	cmdS3.Flag.Bool("allowEmptyFolder", true, "deprecated, ignored. Empty folder cleanup is now automatic.")
 	s3StandaloneOptions.allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty = cmdS3.Flag.Bool("allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty", true, "allow recursive deleting all entries along with bucket")
+	s3StandaloneOptions.autoCreateBucket = cmdS3.Flag.Bool("autoCreateBucket", true, "create the bucket on upload if it does not exist, for admin identities only")
 	s3StandaloneOptions.localFilerSocket = cmdS3.Flag.String("localFilerSocket", "", "local filer socket path")
 	s3StandaloneOptions.localSocket = cmdS3.Flag.String("localSocket", "", "default to /tmp/seaweedfs-s3-<port>.sock")
 	s3StandaloneOptions.idleTimeout = cmdS3.Flag.Int("idleTimeout", 120, "connection idle seconds")
@@ -351,6 +353,7 @@ func (s3opt *S3Options) startS3Server() bool {
 		BucketsPath:               filerBucketsPath,
 		GrpcDialOption:            grpcDialOption,
 		AllowDeleteBucketNotEmpty: *s3opt.allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty,
+		AutoCreateBucket:          *s3opt.autoCreateBucket,
 		LocalFilerSocket:          localFilerSocket,
 		DataCenter:                *s3opt.dataCenter,
 		FilerGroup:                filerGroup,
diff --git a/weed/command/server.go b/weed/command/server.go
index e89d26682..a40f13175 100644
--- a/weed/command/server.go
+++ b/weed/command/server.go
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ func init() {
 	s3Options.auditLogConfig = cmdServer.Flag.String("s3.auditLogConfig", "", "path to the audit log config file")
 	cmdServer.Flag.Bool("s3.allowEmptyFolder", true, "deprecated, ignored. Empty folder cleanup is now automatic.")
 	s3Options.allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty = cmdServer.Flag.Bool("s3.allowDeleteBucketNotEmpty", true, "allow recursive deleting all entries along with bucket")
+	s3Options.autoCreateBucket = cmdServer.Flag.Bool("s3.autoCreateBucket", true, "create the bucket on upload if it does not exist, for admin identities only")
 	s3Options.localSocket = cmdServer.Flag.String("s3.localSocket", "", "default to /tmp/seaweedfs-s3-<port>.sock")
 	s3Options.bindIp = cmdServer.Flag.String("s3.ip.bind", "", "ip address to bind to. If empty, default to same as -ip.bind option.")
 	s3Options.idleTimeout = cmdServer.Flag.Int("s3.idleTimeout", 120, "connection idle seconds")
diff --git a/weed/s3api/s3api_bucket_handlers.go b/weed/s3api/s3api_bucket_handlers.go
index 2f4cae39d..5e261ef93 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/s3api_bucket_handlers.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/s3api_bucket_handlers.go
@@ -589,6 +589,9 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) checkBucket(r *http.Request, bucket string) s3err.ErrorC
 // ErrAutoCreatePermissionDenied is returned when a user lacks permission to auto-create buckets
 var ErrAutoCreatePermissionDenied = errors.New("permission denied - requires Admin permission")
 
+// ErrAutoCreateDisabled is returned when bucket auto-creation is disabled by configuration
+var ErrAutoCreateDisabled = errors.New("bucket auto-creation is disabled")
+
 // ErrInvalidBucketName is returned when a bucket name doesn't meet S3 naming requirements
 var ErrInvalidBucketName = errors.New("invalid bucket name")
 
@@ -690,6 +693,10 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) autoCreateBucket(r *http.Request, bucket string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("auto-create bucket %s: %w", bucket, errors.Join(ErrInvalidBucketName, err))
 	}
 
+	if !s3a.option.AutoCreateBucket {
+		return fmt.Errorf("auto-create bucket %s: %w", bucket, ErrAutoCreateDisabled)
+	}
+
 	// Check if user has admin permissions
 	if !s3a.isUserAdmin(r) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("auto-create bucket %s: %w", bucket, ErrAutoCreatePermissionDenied)
@@ -758,7 +765,9 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) handleAutoCreateBucket(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Re
 	if err := s3a.autoCreateBucket(r, bucket); err != nil {
 		glog.Warningf("%s: %v", handlerName, err)
 		// Check for specific errors to return appropriate S3 error codes
-		if errors.Is(err, ErrInvalidBucketName) {
+		if errors.Is(err, ErrAutoCreateDisabled) {
+			s3err.WriteErrorResponse(w, r, s3err.ErrNoSuchBucket)
+		} else if errors.Is(err, ErrInvalidBucketName) {
 			s3err.WriteErrorResponse(w, r, s3err.ErrInvalidBucketName)
 		} else if errors.Is(err, ErrAutoCreatePermissionDenied) {
 			s3err.WriteErrorResponse(w, r, s3err.ErrAccessDenied)
diff --git a/weed/s3api/s3api_bucket_handlers_misc_test.go b/weed/s3api/s3api_bucket_handlers_misc_test.go
index b25d8720e..8f8081e90 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/s3api_bucket_handlers_misc_test.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/s3api_bucket_handlers_misc_test.go
@@ -221,3 +221,67 @@ func TestGetBucketLogging(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("missing xmlns: %s", got)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestHandleAutoCreateBucketDisabled(t *testing.T) {
+	s3a := &S3ApiServer{option: &S3ApiServerOption{}}
+	req := newBucketRequest(http.MethodPut, "test-bucket", "", "")
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	if s3a.handleAutoCreateBucket(rec, req, "test-bucket", "PutObjectHandler") {
+		t.Fatal("expected auto-create to be rejected")
+	}
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusNotFound {
+		t.Fatalf("status = %d, want %d", rec.Code, http.StatusNotFound)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(rec.Body.String(), "NoSuchBucket") {
+		t.Fatalf("body = %s, want NoSuchBucket", rec.Body.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHandleAutoCreateBucketNonAdmin(t *testing.T) {
+	s3a := &S3ApiServer{option: &S3ApiServerOption{AutoCreateBucket: true}}
+	req := newBucketRequest(http.MethodPut, "test-bucket", "", "")
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	if s3a.handleAutoCreateBucket(rec, req, "test-bucket", "PutObjectHandler") {
+		t.Fatal("expected auto-create to be rejected")
+	}
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusForbidden {
+		t.Fatalf("status = %d, want %d", rec.Code, http.StatusForbidden)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestUploadMissingBucketAutoCreateDisabled(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		name    string
+		method  string
+		object  string
+		handler func(*S3ApiServer, http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request)
+	}{
+		{"put object", http.MethodPut, "/key", (*S3ApiServer).PutObjectHandler},
+		{"put directory marker", http.MethodPut, "/dir/", (*S3ApiServer).PutObjectHandler},
+		{"new multipart upload", http.MethodPost, "/key", (*S3ApiServer).NewMultipartUploadHandler},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			s3a := &S3ApiServer{
+				option:            &S3ApiServerOption{},
+				iam:               &IdentityAccessManagement{},
+				bucketConfigCache: NewBucketConfigCache(time.Minute),
+			}
+			s3a.bucketConfigCache.SetNegativeCache("missing")
+			req := httptest.NewRequest(tc.method, "/missing"+tc.object, strings.NewReader(""))
+			req = mux.SetURLVars(req, map[string]string{"bucket": "missing", "object": tc.object})
+			rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+			tc.handler(s3a, rec, req)
+
+			if rec.Code != http.StatusNotFound {
+				t.Fatalf("status = %d, want %d", rec.Code, http.StatusNotFound)
+			}
+			if !strings.Contains(rec.Body.String(), "NoSuchBucket") {
+				t.Fatalf("body = %s, want NoSuchBucket", rec.Body.String())
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_put.go b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_put.go
index 95d6d9ed0..5f8652ac7 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_put.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_put.go
@@ -131,6 +131,17 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) PutObjectHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 
 	objectContentType := r.Header.Get("Content-Type")
 	if strings.HasSuffix(object, "/") && r.ContentLength <= 1024 {
+		// The filer mkdir below would implicitly create a missing bucket, so gate it
+		// on the same auto-create policy as regular uploads.
+		if err := s3a.checkBucket(r, bucket); err == s3err.ErrNoSuchBucket {
+			if !s3a.handleAutoCreateBucket(w, r, bucket, "PutObjectHandler") {
+				return
+			}
+		} else if err != s3err.ErrNone {
+			s3err.WriteErrorResponse(w, r, err)
+			return
+		}
+
 		// Split the object into directory path and name
 		objectWithoutSlash := strings.TrimSuffix(object, "/")
 		dirName := path.Dir(objectWithoutSlash)
diff --git a/weed/s3api/s3api_server.go b/weed/s3api/s3api_server.go
index 7b2e6c746..7b09e0855 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/s3api_server.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/s3api_server.go
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ type S3ApiServerOption struct {
 	BucketsPath               string
 	GrpcDialOption            grpc.DialOption
 	AllowDeleteBucketNotEmpty bool
+	AutoCreateBucket          bool // create the bucket on upload if it does not exist
 	LocalFilerSocket          string
 	DataCenter                string
 	FilerGroup                string