diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/aws_s3.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/aws_s3.py
index db2c7450a8d..2ed2002ee96 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/aws_s3.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/aws_s3.py
@@ -599,6 +599,7 @@ def main():
     module = AnsibleModule(
         argument_spec=argument_spec,
         supports_check_mode=True,
+        required_if=[('mode', 'put', ('src',))],
     )
 
     if module._name == 's3':