diff --git a/changes/fix-s3-back-compat b/changes/fix-s3-back-compat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ef24c2a980
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/fix-s3-back-compat
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Fixes an issue with backwards compatibility with the deprecated `FLEET_S3_*` environment variables.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/fleet/serve.go b/cmd/fleet/serve.go
index c669a43199..dd330d2e43 100644
--- a/cmd/fleet/serve.go
+++ b/cmd/fleet/serve.go
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ the way that the Fleet server works.
 			}
 			ds = mds
 
-			if config.S3.CarvesBucket != "" {
+			if config.S3.CarvesBucket != "" || config.S3.Bucket != "" {
 				carveStore, err = s3.NewCarveStore(config.S3, ds)
 				if err != nil {
 					initFatal(err, "initializing S3 carvestore")