diff --git a/extension/credentialshelper/aws/aws.go b/extension/credentialshelper/aws/aws.go
index 74443a0e..ff159267 100644
--- a/extension/credentialshelper/aws/aws.go
+++ b/extension/credentialshelper/aws/aws.go
@@ -45,9 +45,11 @@ type CredentialsHelper struct {
 
 // New creates a new instance of aws credentials helper
 func New() *CredentialsHelper {
-	ch := &CredentialsHelper{}
-	ch.enabled = true
-	ch.cache = NewCache(AWSCredentialsExpiry)
+	ch := &CredentialsHelper{
+		enabled: true,
+		cache:   NewCache(AWSCredentialsExpiry),
+	}
+
 	return ch
 }
 
@@ -70,14 +72,14 @@ func (h *CredentialsHelper) GetCredentials(image *types.TrackedImage) (*types.Cr
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// set region
+	sess := newAwsSession(region)
+	svc := ecr.New(sess)
+
 	cached, err := h.cache.Get(registry)
 	if err == nil {
 		return cached, nil
 	}
-	// fetch region from registry instead of env
-	svc := ecr.New(session.New(), &aws.Config{
-		Region: aws.String(region),
-	})
 
 	input := &ecr.GetAuthorizationTokenInput{}
 
@@ -135,6 +137,14 @@ func (h *CredentialsHelper) GetCredentials(image *types.TrackedImage) (*types.Cr
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("not found")
 }
 
+func newAwsSession(region string) *session.Session {
+	sess := session.Must(session.NewSession(&aws.Config{
+		Region: aws.String(region),
+	}))
+
+	return sess
+}
+
 func decodeBase64Secret(authSecret string) (username, password string, err error) {
 	decoded, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(authSecret)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/extension/credentialshelper/aws/aws_test.go b/extension/credentialshelper/aws/aws_test.go
index 91a17932..082e5bdc 100644
--- a/extension/credentialshelper/aws/aws_test.go
+++ b/extension/credentialshelper/aws/aws_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package aws
 
 import (
-	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/keel-hq/keel/registry"
@@ -11,10 +10,6 @@ import (
 
 func TestAWS(t *testing.T) {
 
-	if os.Getenv("AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID") == "" {
-		t.Skip()
-	}
-
 	ch := New()
 
 	// image
@@ -48,10 +43,8 @@ func TestAWS(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestCredentialsCaching(t *testing.T) {
 
-	if os.Getenv("AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID") == "" {
-		t.Skip()
-	}
 	ch := New()
+
 	imgRef, _ := image.Parse("528670773427.dkr.ecr.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/webhook-demo:master")
 	for i := 0; i < 200; i++ {
 		_, err := ch.GetCredentials(&types.TrackedImage{