diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-cloud/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/cloud/writer/S3ExternalFileWriterFactory.java b/asterixdb/asterix-cloud/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/cloud/writer/S3ExternalFileWriterFactory.java
index 5faa8e1..cdaa6dc 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-cloud/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/cloud/writer/S3ExternalFileWriterFactory.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-cloud/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/cloud/writer/S3ExternalFileWriterFactory.java
@@ -151,6 +151,13 @@
             }
         }
 
+        // do not validate write permissions if specified by the user not to do so
+        String validateWritePermissions = configuration
+                .getOrDefault(ExternalDataConstants.KEY_VALIDATE_WRITE_PERMISSION, Boolean.TRUE.toString());
+        if (!Boolean.parseBoolean(validateWritePermissions)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         Random random = new Random();
         String pathPrefix = "testFile";
         String path = pathPrefix + random.nextInt();
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/external/util/ExternalDataConstants.java b/asterixdb/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/external/util/ExternalDataConstants.java
index fcdddd8..98ccbce 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/external/util/ExternalDataConstants.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/external/util/ExternalDataConstants.java
@@ -310,6 +310,7 @@
      * Writer Constants
      */
     public static final String KEY_WRITER_MAX_RESULT = "max-objects-per-file";
+    public static final String KEY_VALIDATE_WRITE_PERMISSION = "validate-write-permission";
     public static final String KEY_WRITER_COMPRESSION = "compression";
     public static final int WRITER_MAX_RESULT_DEFAULT = 10000;
     public static final int WRITER_MAX_RESULT_MINIMUM = 1000;