diff --git a/aws-s3-transfer-manager/src/middleware/hedge.rs b/aws-s3-transfer-manager/src/middleware/hedge.rs
index ab145de6..f2e1cf0d 100644
--- a/aws-s3-transfer-manager/src/middleware/hedge.rs
+++ b/aws-s3-transfer-manager/src/middleware/hedge.rs
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ const MIN_DATA_POINTS: u64 = 20;
 const PERIOD: Duration = Duration::from_secs(2);
 
 /*
-* During uploads, S3 recommends retrying the slowest 5% of requests for latency-sensitive applications,
-* as some requests can experience high time to first byte. If a slow part is hit near the end of the request,
-* the application may spend the last few seconds waiting for those final parts to complete, which can reduce overall
-* throughput. This layer is used to retry the slowest 5% of requests to improve performance.
-* Based on our experiments, this makes a significant difference for multipart upload use-cases and
-* does not have a noticeable impact for the Download.
-*/
+ * During uploads, S3 recommends retrying the slowest 5% of requests for latency-sensitive applications,
+ * as some requests can experience high time to first byte. If a slow part is hit near the end of the request,
+ * the application may spend the last few seconds waiting for those final parts to complete, which can reduce overall
+ * throughput. This layer is used to retry the slowest 5% of requests to improve performance.
+ * Based on our experiments, this makes a significant difference for multipart upload use-cases and
+ * does not have a noticeable impact for the Download.
+ */
 pub(crate) struct Builder<P> {
     policy: P,
     latency_percentile: f32,
@@ -34,31 +34,16 @@ pub(crate) struct Builder<P> {
     period: Duration,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default)]
-pub(crate) struct DefaultPolicy;
-
-impl<T: Clone> Policy<T> for DefaultPolicy {
-    fn clone_request(&self, req: &T) -> Option<T> {
-        Some(req.clone())
-    }
-
-    fn can_retry(&self, _req: &T) -> bool {
-        true
-    }
-}
-
-impl Default for Builder<DefaultPolicy> {
-    fn default() -> Self {
+impl<P> Builder<P> {
+    pub(crate) fn new(policy: P) -> Self {
         Self {
-            policy: DefaultPolicy,
+            policy,
             latency_percentile: LATENCY_PERCENTILE,
             min_data_points: MIN_DATA_POINTS,
             period: PERIOD,
         }
     }
-}
 
-impl<P> Builder<P> {
     /// Converts the `Hedge` into a `Layer` that can be used in a service stack.
     pub(crate) fn into_layer<Request, S>(self) -> impl Layer<S, Service = Hedge<S, P>> + Clone
     where
diff --git a/aws-s3-transfer-manager/src/operation/upload/service.rs b/aws-s3-transfer-manager/src/operation/upload/service.rs
index dcbd79c2..640eff06 100644
--- a/aws-s3-transfer-manager/src/operation/upload/service.rs
+++ b/aws-s3-transfer-manager/src/operation/upload/service.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
+use super::MultipartUploadData;
 use crate::{
     error,
     io::{
@@ -12,11 +13,9 @@ use crate::{
 use aws_sdk_s3::{primitives::ByteStream, types::CompletedPart};
 use bytes::Buf;
 use tokio::{sync::Mutex, task};
-use tower::{service_fn, Service, ServiceBuilder, ServiceExt};
+use tower::{hedge::Policy, service_fn, Service, ServiceBuilder, ServiceExt};
 use tracing::Instrument;
 
-use super::MultipartUploadData;
-
 /// Request/input type for our "upload_part" service.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub(super) struct UploadPartRequest {
@@ -25,6 +24,22 @@ pub(super) struct UploadPartRequest {
     pub(super) upload_id: String,
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub(crate) struct UploadHedgePolicy;
+
+impl Policy<UploadPartRequest> for UploadHedgePolicy {
+    fn clone_request(&self, req: &UploadPartRequest) -> Option<UploadPartRequest> {
+        if req.ctx.request.bucket().unwrap_or("").ends_with("--x-s3") {
+            None
+        } else {
+            Some(req.clone())
+        }
+    }
+    fn can_retry(&self, _req: &UploadPartRequest) -> bool {
+        true
+    }
+}
+
 /// handler (service fn) for a single part
 async fn upload_part_handler(request: UploadPartRequest) -> Result<CompletedPart, error::Error> {
     let ctx = request.ctx;
@@ -80,7 +95,7 @@ pub(super) fn upload_part_service(
         .buffer(ctx.handle.num_workers())
         // FIXME - Hedged request should also get a permit. Currently, it can bypass the
         // concurrency_limit layer.
-        .layer(hedge::Builder::default().into_layer())
+        .layer(hedge::Builder::new(UploadHedgePolicy).into_layer())
         .service(svc);
     svc.map_err(|err| {
         let e = err
@@ -128,7 +143,6 @@ pub(super) fn distribute_work(
         parent: parent_span_for_all_tasks,
         "upload-net-tasks"
     );
-
     let svc = upload_part_service(&ctx);
     let n_workers = ctx.handle.num_workers();
     for _ in 0..n_workers {
@@ -180,3 +194,44 @@ pub(super) async fn read_body(
     }
     Ok(())
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use crate::client::Handle;
+    use crate::operation::upload::UploadInput;
+    use crate::runtime::scheduler::Scheduler;
+    use crate::Config;
+    use test_common::mock_client_with_stubbed_http_client;
+
+    fn _mock_upload_part_request_with_bucket_name(bucket_name: &str) -> UploadPartRequest {
+        let s3_client = mock_client_with_stubbed_http_client!(aws_sdk_s3, []);
+        UploadPartRequest {
+            ctx: UploadContext {
+                handle: Arc::new(Handle {
+                    config: Config::builder().client(s3_client).build(),
+                    scheduler: Scheduler::new(0),
+                }),
+                request: Arc::new(UploadInput::builder().bucket(bucket_name).build().unwrap()),
+            },
+            part_data: PartData {
+                part_number: 0,
+                data: Default::default(),
+            },
+            upload_id: "test-id".to_string(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_upload_hedge_policy_operation() {
+        let policy = UploadHedgePolicy;
+
+        // Test S3 Express bucket
+        let express_req = _mock_upload_part_request_with_bucket_name("test--x-s3");
+        assert!(policy.clone_request(&express_req).is_none());
+
+        // Test regular bucket
+        let regular_req = _mock_upload_part_request_with_bucket_name("test");
+        assert!(policy.clone_request(&regular_req).is_some());
+    }
+}