diff --git a/src/art/utils/s3.py b/src/art/utils/s3.py
index f29c0dbb..61a016bc 100644
--- a/src/art/utils/s3.py
+++ b/src/art/utils/s3.py
@@ -256,6 +256,10 @@ async def push_model_to_s3(
         s3_bucket=s3_bucket,
         prefix=prefix,
     )
+
+    await ensure_bucket_exists(s3_bucket)
+    if verbose:
+        print(f"DEBUG: S3 sync from {local_model_dir} to {s3_path}")
     await s3_sync(local_model_dir, s3_path, verbose=verbose, delete=delete)