diff --git a/helper/awsutil/region_test.go b/helper/awsutil/region_test.go
index c8d15c9ff0..4b208a6cd5 100644
--- a/helper/awsutil/region_test.go
+++ b/helper/awsutil/region_test.go
@@ -110,6 +110,12 @@ func TestGetOrDefaultRegion_ConfigFileUnfound(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGetOrDefaultRegion_EC2InstanceMetadataPreferredFourth(t *testing.T) {
+	if !shouldTestFiles {
+		// In some test environments, like a CI environment, we may not have the
+		// permissions to write to the ~/.aws/config file. Thus, this test is off
+		// by default but can be set to on for local development.
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	configuredRegion := ""
 
 	cleanupEnv := setEnvRegion(t, "")