diff --git a/metaflow/metaflow_config.py b/metaflow/metaflow_config.py
index 79a42620431..0dbf9ed7368 100644
--- a/metaflow/metaflow_config.py
+++ b/metaflow/metaflow_config.py
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@
 ###
 S3_ENDPOINT_URL = from_conf("S3_ENDPOINT_URL")
 S3_VERIFY_CERTIFICATE = from_conf("S3_VERIFY_CERTIFICATE")
+S3_SIGN_REQUEST = from_conf("S3_SIGN_REQUEST", True)
 
 # Set ServerSideEncryption for S3 uploads
 S3_SERVER_SIDE_ENCRYPTION = from_conf("S3_SERVER_SIDE_ENCRYPTION")
@@ -130,6 +131,11 @@
     DATATOOLS_CLIENT_PARAMS["endpoint_url"] = S3_ENDPOINT_URL
 if S3_VERIFY_CERTIFICATE:
     DATATOOLS_CLIENT_PARAMS["verify"] = S3_VERIFY_CERTIFICATE
+if not S3_SIGN_REQUEST:
+    # TODO: possible to achieve this without importing botocore?
+    from botocore import UNSIGNED
+    from botocore.config import Config
+    DATATOOLS_CLIENT_PARAMS["config"] = Config(signature_version=UNSIGNED)
 
 DATATOOLS_SESSION_VARS = from_conf("DATATOOLS_SESSION_VARS", {})
 
diff --git a/metaflow/metaflow_environment.py b/metaflow/metaflow_environment.py
index dde7be0b9fe..3d8c4fbbd0b 100644
--- a/metaflow/metaflow_environment.py
+++ b/metaflow/metaflow_environment.py
@@ -96,8 +96,13 @@ def _get_download_code_package_cmd(self, code_package_url, datastore_type):
             # Boto3 does not play well with passing None or an empty string to endpoint_url
             return "{python} -c '{script}'".format(
                 python=self._python(),
-                script='import boto3, os; ep=os.getenv(\\"METAFLOW_S3_ENDPOINT_URL\\"); boto3.client(\\"s3\\", **({\\"endpoint_url\\":ep} if ep else {})).download_file(\\"%s\\", \\"%s\\", \\"job.tar\\")'
-                % (bucket, s3_object),
+                script='import boto3, os;'
+                       'from botocore import UNSIGNED; from botocore.config import Config;'
+                       'ep=os.getenv(\\"METAFLOW_S3_ENDPOINT_URL\\");'
+                       'no_sign=os.getenv(\\"METAFLOW_S3_SIGN_REQUEST\\") == "False";'
+                       'boto3.client(\\"s3\\", **({\\"endpoint_url\\":ep} if ep else {}),'
+                       '**({\\"config\\": Config(signature_version=UNSIGNED)} if no_sign else {}))'
+                       '.download_file(\\"%s\\", \\"%s\\", \\"job.tar\\")' % (bucket, s3_object),
             )
         elif datastore_type == "azure":
             from .plugins.azure.azure_utils import parse_azure_full_path
diff --git a/metaflow/plugins/argo/argo_workflows.py b/metaflow/plugins/argo/argo_workflows.py
index f88d955ffdb..92023b1998b 100644
--- a/metaflow/plugins/argo/argo_workflows.py
+++ b/metaflow/plugins/argo/argo_workflows.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
     KUBERNETES_SECRETS,
     S3_ENDPOINT_URL,
     S3_SERVER_SIDE_ENCRYPTION,
+    S3_SIGN_REQUEST,
     SERVICE_HEADERS,
     SERVICE_INTERNAL_URL,
     UI_URL,
@@ -1765,6 +1766,9 @@ def _container_templates(self):
             # add METAFLOW_S3_ENDPOINT_URL
             env["METAFLOW_S3_ENDPOINT_URL"] = S3_ENDPOINT_URL
 
+            # support for unsigned s3 requests
+            env["METAFLOW_S3_SIGN_REQUEST"] = S3_SIGN_REQUEST
+
             # support Metaflow sandboxes
             env["METAFLOW_INIT_SCRIPT"] = KUBERNETES_SANDBOX_INIT_SCRIPT
             env["METAFLOW_KUBERNETES_SANDBOX_INIT_SCRIPT"] = (
diff --git a/metaflow/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes.py b/metaflow/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes.py
index 6625047395a..5b30dba0bb8 100644
--- a/metaflow/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes.py
+++ b/metaflow/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
     OTEL_ENDPOINT,
     S3_ENDPOINT_URL,
     S3_SERVER_SIDE_ENCRYPTION,
+    S3_SIGN_REQUEST,
     SERVICE_HEADERS,
     KUBERNETES_SECRETS,
     SERVICE_INTERNAL_URL,
@@ -271,6 +272,7 @@ def create_jobset(
                 "METAFLOW_AZURE_STORAGE_BLOB_SERVICE_ENDPOINT",
                 AZURE_STORAGE_BLOB_SERVICE_ENDPOINT,
             )
+            .environment_variable("METAFLOW_S3_SIGN_REQUEST", S3_SIGN_REQUEST)
             .environment_variable(
                 "METAFLOW_DATASTORE_SYSROOT_AZURE", DATASTORE_SYSROOT_AZURE
             )