diff --git a/cmd/bucket-handlers.go b/cmd/bucket-handlers.go
index 21231d397..ce2846b7a 100644
--- a/cmd/bucket-handlers.go
+++ b/cmd/bucket-handlers.go
@@ -1661,9 +1661,11 @@ func (api objectAPIHandlers) HeadBucketHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Re
 		return
 	}
 
-	if s3Error := checkRequestAuthType(ctx, r, policy.ListBucketAction, bucket, ""); s3Error != ErrNone {
-		writeErrorResponseHeadersOnly(w, errorCodes.ToAPIErr(s3Error))
-		return
+	if s3Error := checkRequestAuthType(ctx, r, policy.HeadBucketAction, bucket, ""); s3Error != ErrNone {
+		if s3Error := checkRequestAuthType(ctx, r, policy.ListBucketAction, bucket, ""); s3Error != ErrNone {
+			writeErrorResponseHeadersOnly(w, errorCodes.ToAPIErr(s3Error))
+			return
+		}
 	}
 
 	getBucketInfo := objectAPI.GetBucketInfo