diff --git a/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/s3.py b/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/s3.py
index 149887f6c97f6..22398fc878566 100644
--- a/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/s3.py
+++ b/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/s3.py
@@ -203,7 +203,19 @@ def check_for_bucket(self, bucket_name: Optional[str] = None) -> bool:
             self.get_conn().head_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
             return True
         except ClientError as e:
-            self.log.error(e.response["Error"]["Message"])
+            # The head_bucket api is odd in that it cannot return proper
+            # exception objects, so error codes must be used. Only 200, 404 and 403
+            # are ever returned. See the following links for more details:
+            # https://github.com/boto/boto3/issues/2499
+            # https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/reference/services/s3.html#S3.Client.head_bucket
+            return_code = int(e.response['Error']['Code'])
+            if return_code == 404:
+                self.log.error('Bucket "%s" does not exist', bucket_name)
+            elif return_code == 403:
+                self.log.error(
+                    'Access to bucket "%s" is forbidden or there was an error with the request', bucket_name
+                )
+                self.log.error(e)
             return False
 
     @provide_bucket_name