diff --git a/fence/blueprints/data/indexd.py b/fence/blueprints/data/indexd.py
index ca88d8c64..f2978f56d 100755
--- a/fence/blueprints/data/indexd.py
+++ b/fence/blueprints/data/indexd.py
@@ -349,13 +349,12 @@ def init_multipart_upload(key, expires_in=None, bucket=None):
         Returns:
             uploadId(str)
         """
+        bucket = bucket or flask.current_app.config["DATA_UPLOAD_BUCKET"]
         if not bucket:
-            try:
-                bucket = flask.current_app.config["DATA_UPLOAD_BUCKET"]
-            except KeyError:
-                raise InternalError(
-                    "fence not configured with data upload bucket; can't create signed URL"
-                )
+            raise InternalError(
+                "fence not configured with data upload bucket; can't create signed URL"
+            )
+
         s3_url = "s3://{}/{}".format(bucket, key)
         return S3IndexedFileLocation(s3_url).init_multipart_upload(expires_in)