diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 6503e39..9a747fc 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -63,6 +63,17 @@ enum Error {
     UnknownError(String),
 }
 
+impl From<object_store::Error> for Error {
+    fn from(value: object_store::Error) -> Self {
+        match value {
+            object_store::Error::NotFound { path, source: _ } => {
+                Self::NotFound(format!("object not found at {}", path))
+            }
+            err => Error::UnknownError(err.to_string()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[rocket::get("/")]
 async fn index_root(state: &State<Settings>) -> Result<FileView, Error> {
     index(None, state).await
@@ -81,27 +92,24 @@ async fn index(path: Option<PathBuf>, state: &State<Settings>) -> Result<FileVie
     };
 
     /*
-       The way things work in S3, the following holds for us:
-       - we need to use a slash as separator
-       - getting the bucket address (empty prefix) will
-         return an XML file with all properties; we don't
-         want that.
-
        We try first to retrieve list an object as a file. If we fail,
        we fallback to retrieving the equivalent folder.
     */
 
-    if let Some(path) = &object_path
-        && object_exists(path, &state).await?
+    if let Some(object_path) = &object_path
+        && object_exists(object_path, &state).await?
     {
-        serve_object(&path, &state).await
+        log::info!("serving S3 object at {}", &object_path);
+        serve_object(&object_path, &state).await
     } else {
+        let path = path.unwrap_or_default();
+        log::info!("listing S3 objects at {}", path.display());
         let objects = file_view(object_path, &state).await?;
 
         let rendered = Template::render(
             "index",
             context! {
-                path: format!("{}/", path.unwrap_or("".into()).display()),
+                path: format!("{}/", path.display()),
                 objects
             },
         );
@@ -111,6 +119,7 @@ async fn index(path: Option<PathBuf>, state: &State<Settings>) -> Result<FileVie
 }
 
 async fn object_exists(s3_path: &ObjectStorePath, settings: &Settings) -> Result<bool, Error> {
+    log::debug!("checking existence of S3 object at {}", s3_path);
     match settings.s3_bucket.head(s3_path).await {
         Ok(_metadata) => Ok(true),
         Err(object_store::Error::NotFound { path: _, source: _ }) => Ok(false),
@@ -123,10 +132,7 @@ async fn serve_object(s3_path: &ObjectStorePath, settings: &Settings) -> Result<
         .s3_bucket
         .get(&s3_path)
         .await
-        .map_err(|e| match e {
-            object_store::Error::NotFound { path: _, source: _ } => Error::NotFound(e.to_string()),
-            _ => Error::UnknownError(e.to_string()),
-        })?
+        .map_err(Error::from)?
         .into_stream();
 
     let s3_path = s3_path.clone();
@@ -161,12 +167,7 @@ async fn file_view(
         .s3_bucket
         .list_with_delimiter(s3_folder_path.as_ref())
         .await
-        .map_err(|err| match err {
-            object_store::Error::NotFound { path: _, source: _ } => {
-                Error::NotFound("object not found".into())
-            }
-            err => Error::UnknownError(err.to_string()),
-        })?;
+        .map_err(Error::from)?;
 
     let folders = s3_objects.common_prefixes.into_iter().map(|dir| {
         let dirname = dir.parts().last().unwrap();
diff --git a/src/settings.rs b/src/settings.rs
index 26b9d27..9f7e98d 100644
--- a/src/settings.rs
+++ b/src/settings.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: EUPL-1.2
 
 use {
-    object_store::{ObjectStore, aws},
+    object_store::{BackoffConfig, ObjectStore, RetryConfig, aws},
     rocket::serde::Deserialize,
     serde::de::Error,
+    std::time::Duration,
 };
 
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
@@ -48,6 +49,11 @@ impl TryInto<Box<dyn ObjectStore>> for S3Config {
             .with_secret_access_key(self.secret_access_key)
             .with_virtual_hosted_style_request(!self.path_style)
             .with_allow_http(true)
+            .with_retry(RetryConfig {
+                max_retries: 1,
+                backoff: BackoffConfig::default(),
+                retry_timeout: Duration::from_millis(500),
+            })
             .build()?;
 
         log::info!(