diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/helpers.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/helpers.go
index b7747c73b6..2bdda3d864 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/helpers.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package aws
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"net/url"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 
@@ -51,3 +52,16 @@ func GetBucketRegion(bucket string) (string, error) {
 
 	return "", errors.New("unable to determine bucket's region")
 }
+
+// IsValidS3URLScheme returns true if the scheme is http:// or https://
+// and the url parses correctly, otherwise, return false
+func IsValidS3URLScheme(s3URL string) bool {
+	u, err := url.Parse(s3URL)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	if u.Scheme != "http" && u.Scheme != "https" {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/helpers_test.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/helpers_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0f3f652942
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/helpers_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 the Heptio Ark contributors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+package aws
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestS3URL(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.True(t, IsValidS3URLScheme("http://foo"))
+	assert.True(t, IsValidS3URLScheme("https://foo"))
+	assert.False(t, IsValidS3URLScheme("httpd://foo"))
+	assert.False(t, IsValidS3URLScheme(""))
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/object_store.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/object_store.go
index ba8ee5b55c..7784c205c0 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/object_store.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/object_store.go
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ func (o *objectStore) Init(config map[string]string) error {
 		WithS3ForcePathStyle(s3ForcePathStyle)
 
 	if s3URL != "" {
+		if !IsValidS3URLScheme(s3URL) {
+			return errors.Errorf("Invalid s3Url: %s", s3URL)
+		}
+
 		awsConfig = awsConfig.WithEndpointResolver(
 			endpoints.ResolverFunc(func(service, region string, optFns ...func(*endpoints.Options)) (endpoints.ResolvedEndpoint, error) {
 				if service == endpoints.S3ServiceID {