diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/54435_aws_s3_fix_removing_versioned_buckets.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/54435_aws_s3_fix_removing_versioned_buckets.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fa359f648bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/54435_aws_s3_fix_removing_versioned_buckets.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - aws_s3 - Delete objects and delete markers so versioned buckets can be removed.
diff --git a/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.10.rst b/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.10.rst
index 452c3abfd3b..2614afdbb02 100644
--- a/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.10.rst
+++ b/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.10.rst
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ Noteworthy module changes
 * :ref:`docker_container <docker_container_module>`'s support for port ranges was adjusted to be more compatible to the ``docker`` command line utility: a one-port container range combined with a multiple-port host range will no longer result in only the first host port be used, but the whole range being passed to Docker so that a free port in that range will be used.
 * :ref:`purefb_fs <purefb_fs_module>` no longer supports the deprecated ``nfs`` option. This has been superceeded by ``nfsv3``.
 * :ref:`nxos_igmp_interface <nxos_igmp_interface_module>` no longer supports the deprecated ``oif_prefix`` and ``oif_source`` options. These have been superceeded by ``oif_ps``.
+* :ref:`aws_s3 <aws_s3_module>` can now delete versioned buckets even when they are not empty - set mode to delete to delete a versioned bucket and everything in it.
 
 
 Plugins
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/aws_s3.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/aws_s3.py
index ff33ee11f1d..54874f05cec 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/aws_s3.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/aws_s3.py
@@ -410,6 +410,19 @@ def paginated_list(s3, **pagination_params):
         yield [data['Key'] for data in page.get('Contents', [])]
 
 
+def paginated_versioned_list_with_fallback(s3, **pagination_params):
+    try:
+        versioned_pg = s3.get_paginator('list_object_versions')
+        for page in versioned_pg.paginate(**pagination_params):
+            delete_markers = [{'Key': data['Key'], 'VersionId': data['VersionId']} for data in page.get('DeleteMarkers', [])]
+            current_objects = [{'Key': data['Key'], 'VersionId': data['VersionId']} for data in page.get('Versions', [])]
+            yield delete_markers + current_objects
+    except botocore.exceptions.ClientError as e:
+        if to_text(e.response['Error']['Code']) in IGNORE_S3_DROP_IN_EXCEPTIONS + ['AccessDenied']:
+            for page in paginated_list(s3, **pagination_params):
+                yield [{'Key': data['Key']} for data in page]
+
+
 def list_keys(module, s3, bucket, prefix, marker, max_keys):
     pagination_params = {'Bucket': bucket}
     for param_name, param_value in (('Prefix', prefix), ('StartAfter', marker), ('MaxKeys', max_keys)):
@@ -429,10 +442,9 @@ def delete_bucket(module, s3, bucket):
         if exists is False:
             return False
         # if there are contents then we need to delete them before we can delete the bucket
-        for keys in paginated_list(s3, Bucket=bucket):
-            formatted_keys = [{'Key': key} for key in keys]
-            if formatted_keys:
-                s3.delete_objects(Bucket=bucket, Delete={'Objects': formatted_keys})
+        for keys in paginated_versioned_list_with_fallback(s3, Bucket=bucket):
+            if keys:
+                s3.delete_objects(Bucket=bucket, Delete={'Objects': keys})
         s3.delete_bucket(Bucket=bucket)
         return True
     except (botocore.exceptions.ClientError, botocore.exceptions.BotoCoreError) as e: