diff --git a/weed/s3api/auth_credentials.go b/weed/s3api/auth_credentials.go
index 502283a944..01ec4eea64 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/auth_credentials.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/auth_credentials.go
@@ -1698,10 +1698,9 @@ func (iam *IdentityAccessManagement) Auth(f http.HandlerFunc, action Action) htt
 
 // AuthPostPolicy is a specialized authentication wrapper for PostPolicy requests.
 // It allows requests with multipart/form-data to proceed even if classified as Anonymous,
-// because the actual authentication (signature verification) for ALL PostPolicy requests is
-// performed unconditionally in PostPolicyBucketHandler.doesPolicySignatureMatch().
-// This delegation only defers the initial authentication classification; it does NOT bypass
-// signature verification, which is mandatory for all PostPolicy uploads.
+// because PostPolicy signature verification happens in PostPolicyBucketHandler when auth
+// is enabled. This delegation only defers the initial authentication classification; it
+// does NOT bypass signature verification for authenticated uploads.
 func (iam *IdentityAccessManagement) AuthPostPolicy(f http.HandlerFunc, action Action) http.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		scrubInternalHeaders(r)
diff --git a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_postpolicy.go b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_postpolicy.go
index 78fdedd8d0..51d21c4bf8 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_postpolicy.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_postpolicy.go
@@ -80,16 +80,20 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) PostPolicyBucketHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.R
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Verify policy signature.
-	identity, errCode := s3a.iam.doesPolicySignatureMatch(r.Context(), formValues)
-	if errCode != s3err.ErrNone {
-		s3err.WriteErrorResponse(w, r, refineDenialForBucketName(r, identity, errCode))
-		return
-	}
-	if identity != nil {
-		r = r.WithContext(recordIdentityInContext(r, identity))
-		if identity.Account != nil {
-			r.Header.Set(s3_constants.AmzAccountId, identity.Account.Id)
+	// Verify policy signature. With auth off there are no keys to check it against, as on the other handlers.
+	var identity *Identity
+	errCode := s3err.ErrNone
+	if s3a.iam.isEnabled() {
+		identity, errCode = s3a.iam.doesPolicySignatureMatch(r.Context(), formValues)
+		if errCode != s3err.ErrNone {
+			s3err.WriteErrorResponse(w, r, refineDenialForBucketName(r, identity, errCode))
+			return
+		}
+		if identity != nil {
+			r = r.WithContext(recordIdentityInContext(r, identity))
+			if identity.Account != nil {
+				r.Header.Set(s3_constants.AmzAccountId, identity.Account.Id)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_postpolicy_test.go b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_postpolicy_test.go
index 2dd1874c74..b8e65d6c8d 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_postpolicy_test.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_postpolicy_test.go
@@ -683,3 +683,53 @@ func TestPostPolicyBucketHandler_PolicyViolationReturns403(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NotContains(t, rec.Body.String(), "InvalidAccessKeyId",
 		"access key must be known so the handler reaches the policy-check branch")
 }
+
+// With auth off there are no keys, so a POST Object form must not be rejected
+// for its signature; the policy conditions still apply.
+func TestPostPolicyBucketHandler_AuthDisabledSkipsSignature(t *testing.T) {
+	const testBucket = "test-bucket"
+
+	iam := &IdentityAccessManagement{
+		hashes:       make(map[string]*sync.Pool),
+		hashCounters: make(map[string]*int32),
+	}
+	assert.NoError(t, iam.loadS3ApiConfiguration(&iam_pb.S3ApiConfiguration{}))
+	assert.False(t, iam.isEnabled())
+
+	s3a := &S3ApiServer{
+		option: &S3ApiServerOption{BucketsPath: "/buckets"},
+		iam:    iam,
+	}
+	s3a.bucketRegistry = NewBucketRegistry(s3a)
+	s3a.bucketRegistry.setMetadataCache(&BucketMetaData{Name: testBucket, IsTableBucket: false})
+
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	credential := fmt.Sprintf("ANYKEY/%s/us-east-1/s3/aws4_request", now.Format(yyyymmdd))
+	policyJSON := fmt.Sprintf(`{"expiration":"%s","conditions":[["eq","$key","required.txt"]]}`,
+		now.Add(time.Hour).Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05.000Z"))
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	writer := multipart.NewWriter(&buf)
+	assert.NoError(t, writer.WriteField("key", "wrong.txt"))
+	assert.NoError(t, writer.WriteField("x-amz-credential", credential))
+	assert.NoError(t, writer.WriteField("x-amz-algorithm", "AWS4-HMAC-SHA256"))
+	assert.NoError(t, writer.WriteField("x-amz-date", now.Format(iso8601Format)))
+	assert.NoError(t, writer.WriteField("policy", base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte(policyJSON))))
+	assert.NoError(t, writer.WriteField("x-amz-signature", "00"))
+	filePart, err := writer.CreateFormFile("file", "payload.txt")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	_, err = filePart.Write([]byte("contents"))
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.NoError(t, writer.Close())
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, "/"+testBucket, &buf)
+	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", writer.FormDataContentType())
+	req = mux.SetURLVars(req, map[string]string{"bucket": testBucket})
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	s3a.PostPolicyBucketHandler(rec, req)
+
+	assert.NotContains(t, rec.Body.String(), "InvalidAccessKeyId")
+	assert.Contains(t, rec.Body.String(), "Policy Condition failed",
+		"the policy check must still run, body: %s", rec.Body.String())
+}