diff --git a/catalog/dags/providers/provider_api_scripts/inaturalist.py b/catalog/dags/providers/provider_api_scripts/inaturalist.py
index 8b0661a1f7a..b3b9c397aa3 100644
--- a/catalog/dags/providers/provider_api_scripts/inaturalist.py
+++ b/catalog/dags/providers/provider_api_scripts/inaturalist.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 }
 OUTPUT_DIR = Path(os.getenv("OUTPUT_DIR", "/tmp/"))
 COL_URL = "https://download.checklistbank.org/col/latest_coldp.zip"
+INATURALIST_BUCKET = "inaturalist-open-data"
 
 
 class INaturalistDataIngester(ProviderDataIngester):
@@ -202,9 +203,9 @@ def compare_update_dates(
         for key in s3_keys:
             # this will error out if the files don't exist, and bubble up as an
             # informative failure
-            last_modified = s3_client.head_object(
-                Bucket="inaturalist-open-data", Key=key
-            )["LastModified"]
+            last_modified = s3_client.head_object(Bucket=INATURALIST_BUCKET, Key=key)[
+                "LastModified"
+            ]
             logger.info(
                 f"{key} was last modified on s3 on "
                 f"{last_modified.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')}."
diff --git a/catalog/tests/dags/common/loader/test_s3.py b/catalog/tests/dags/common/loader/test_s3.py
index 46786727657..c19a13a49a8 100644
--- a/catalog/tests/dags/common/loader/test_s3.py
+++ b/catalog/tests/dags/common/loader/test_s3.py
@@ -13,9 +13,8 @@
 TEST_MEDIA_PREFIX = "media"
 TEST_STAGING_PREFIX = "test_staging"
 S3_LOCAL_ENDPOINT = os.getenv("S3_LOCAL_ENDPOINT")
-S3_TEST_BUCKET = f"cccatalog-storage-{TEST_ID}"
-ACCESS_KEY = os.getenv("AWS_ACCESS_KEY")
-SECRET_KEY = os.getenv("AWS_SECRET_KEY")
+ACCESS_KEY = os.getenv("AWS_ACCESS_KEY", "test_key")
+SECRET_KEY = os.getenv("AWS_SECRET_KEY", "test_secret")
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/catalog/tests/dags/providers/provider_api_scripts/test_inaturalist.py b/catalog/tests/dags/providers/provider_api_scripts/test_inaturalist.py
index 6320bcdec42..2767aee1b68 100644
--- a/catalog/tests/dags/providers/provider_api_scripts/test_inaturalist.py
+++ b/catalog/tests/dags/providers/provider_api_scripts/test_inaturalist.py
@@ -2,10 +2,16 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from unittest import mock
 
+import boto3
 import pendulum
 import pytest
 from airflow.exceptions import AirflowSkipException
 from airflow.models import TaskInstance
+from tests.dags.common.loader.test_s3 import (
+    ACCESS_KEY,
+    S3_LOCAL_ENDPOINT,
+    SECRET_KEY,
+)
 
 from common.constants import IMAGE
 from common.loader.reporting import RecordMetrics
@@ -232,3 +238,14 @@ def test_compare_update_dates(last_success, s3_dir, expected_msgs, caplog):
         assert actual is None
         for msg in expected_msgs:
             assert msg in caplog.text
+
+
+def test_bucket_exists():
+    bucket = boto3.resource(
+        "s3",
+        aws_access_key_id=ACCESS_KEY,
+        aws_secret_access_key=SECRET_KEY,
+        endpoint_url=S3_LOCAL_ENDPOINT,
+    ).Bucket(inaturalist.INATURALIST_BUCKET)
+
+    assert bucket.creation_date is not None
diff --git a/docker/minio/env.template b/docker/minio/env.template
index 873f917a27d..178889c3828 100644
--- a/docker/minio/env.template
+++ b/docker/minio/env.template
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@ MINIO_ROOT_USER=test_key
 MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=test_secret
 
 # Comma separated list of buckets to create on startup
-BUCKETS_TO_CREATE=openverse-catalog,openverse-airflow-logs
+BUCKETS_TO_CREATE=openverse-catalog,openverse-airflow-logs,inaturalist-open-data
diff --git a/docker/minio/load_to_s3_entrypoint.sh b/docker/minio/load_to_s3_entrypoint.sh
index b106dae314a..10e32a1c603 100755
--- a/docker/minio/load_to_s3_entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/minio/load_to_s3_entrypoint.sh
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 # More info here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/72867045
 set -euxo pipefail
 
-/usr/bin/mc config host add s3 http://s3:5000 "${AWS_ACCESS_KEY}" "${AWS_SECRET_KEY}"
+/usr/bin/mc config host add s3 http://s3:5000 "${MINIO_ROOT_USER}" "${MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD}"
 cd /data
 for b in */; do
   echo "Loading bucket $b"