diff --git a/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/main/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/AwsEc2ServiceImpl.java b/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/main/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/AwsEc2ServiceImpl.java
index 058b38f9aa17d..2a142b841b713 100644
--- a/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/main/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/AwsEc2ServiceImpl.java
+++ b/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/main/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/AwsEc2ServiceImpl.java
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ protected Ec2Client buildClient(
         ProxyConfiguration proxyConfiguration,
         ClientOverrideConfiguration overrideConfiguration,
         String endpoint,
-        Region region,
+        String region,
         long readTimeoutMillis
     ) {
         ApacheHttpClient.Builder clientBuilder = ApacheHttpClient.builder()
@@ -94,14 +94,18 @@ protected Ec2Client buildClient(
         Ec2ClientBuilder builder = Ec2Client.builder()
             .overrideConfiguration(overrideConfiguration)
             .httpClientBuilder(clientBuilder)
-            .credentialsProvider(awsCredentialsProvider)
-            .region(region);
+            .credentialsProvider(awsCredentialsProvider);
 
         if (Strings.hasText(endpoint)) {
             logger.debug("using explicit ec2 endpoint [{}]", endpoint);
             builder.endpointOverride(URI.create(endpoint));
         }
 
+        if (Strings.hasText(region)) {
+            logger.debug("using explicit ec2 region [{}]", region);
+            builder.region(Region.of(region));
+        }
+
         return SocketAccess.doPrivileged(builder::build);
     }
 
diff --git a/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/main/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/Ec2ClientSettings.java b/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/main/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/Ec2ClientSettings.java
index a5bcfe5d4151c..8f09276e6a627 100644
--- a/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/main/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/Ec2ClientSettings.java
+++ b/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/main/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/Ec2ClientSettings.java
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@
 import software.amazon.awssdk.auth.credentials.AwsCredentials;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.auth.credentials.AwsSessionCredentials;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.Protocol;
-import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
 
 import java.util.Locale;
 
@@ -79,10 +78,10 @@ final class Ec2ClientSettings {
     );
 
     /** An override for the scoping region for authentication. */
-    static final Setting<Region> REGION_SETTING = new Setting<>(
+    static final Setting<String> REGION_SETTING = new Setting<>(
         "discovery.ec2.region",
-        "us-west-2",
-        s -> Region.of(s.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT)),
+        "",
+        s -> s.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT),
         Property.NodeScope
     );
 
@@ -124,7 +123,7 @@ final class Ec2ClientSettings {
     /**
      * The ec2 signing region.
      */
-    final Region region;
+    final String region;
 
     /** The protocol to use to talk to ec2. Defaults to https. */
     final Protocol protocol;
@@ -150,7 +149,7 @@ final class Ec2ClientSettings {
     protected Ec2ClientSettings(
         AwsCredentials credentials,
         String endpoint,
-        Region region,
+        String region,
         Protocol protocol,
         String proxyHost,
         int proxyPort,
diff --git a/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/test/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/Ec2DiscoveryPluginTests.java b/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/test/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/Ec2DiscoveryPluginTests.java
index 0203397498b47..35df2bdbfdfb8 100644
--- a/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/test/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/Ec2DiscoveryPluginTests.java
+++ b/plugins/discovery-ec2/src/test/java/org/opensearch/discovery/ec2/Ec2DiscoveryPluginTests.java
@@ -109,16 +109,16 @@ public void testDefaultEndpoint() throws IOException {
     public void testDefaultRegion() throws IOException {
         final Settings settings = Settings.builder().build();
         try (Ec2DiscoveryPluginMock plugin = new Ec2DiscoveryPluginMock(settings)) {
-            final Region region = ((MockEc2Client) plugin.ec2Service.client().get()).region;
-            assertEquals(region, Region.US_WEST_2);
+            final String region = ((MockEc2Client) plugin.ec2Service.client().get()).region;
+            assertEquals(region, "");
         }
     }
 
     public void testSpecificRegion() throws IOException {
         final Settings settings = Settings.builder().put(Ec2ClientSettings.REGION_SETTING.getKey(), "us-west-2").build();
         try (Ec2DiscoveryPluginMock plugin = new Ec2DiscoveryPluginMock(settings)) {
-            final Region region = ((MockEc2Client) plugin.ec2Service.client().get()).region;
-            assertEquals(region, Region.US_WEST_2);
+            final String region = ((MockEc2Client) plugin.ec2Service.client().get()).region;
+            assertEquals(region, Region.US_WEST_2.toString());
         }
     }
 
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ protected Ec2Client buildClient(
                     ProxyConfiguration proxyConfiguration,
                     ClientOverrideConfiguration overrideConfiguration,
                     String endpoint,
-                    Region region,
+                    String region,
                     long readTimeoutMillis
                 ) {
                     return new MockEc2Client(credentials, proxyConfiguration, overrideConfiguration, endpoint, region, readTimeoutMillis);
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ protected Ec2Client buildClient(
     private static class MockEc2Client implements Ec2Client {
 
         String endpoint;
-        final Region region;
+        final String region;
         final AwsCredentialsProvider credentials;
         final ClientOverrideConfiguration clientOverrideConfiguration;
         final ProxyConfiguration proxyConfiguration;
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ private static class MockEc2Client implements Ec2Client {
             ProxyConfiguration proxyConfiguration,
             ClientOverrideConfiguration clientOverrideConfiguration,
             String endpoint,
-            Region region,
+            String region,
             long readTimeoutMillis
         ) {
             this.credentials = credentials;