diff --git a/apps/files_external/lib/amazons3.php b/apps/files_external/lib/amazons3.php
index 9a682fb2d4..b6d02ee0c4 100644
--- a/apps/files_external/lib/amazons3.php
+++ b/apps/files_external/lib/amazons3.php
@@ -81,9 +81,9 @@ class AmazonS3 extends \OC\Files\Storage\Common {
 		$scheme = ($params['use_ssl'] === 'false') ? 'http' : 'https';
 		$this->test = isset($params['test']);
 		$this->timeout = ( ! isset($params['timeout'])) ? 15 : $params['timeout'];
-		$params['region'] = ( ! isset($params['region'])) ? 'eu-west-1' : $params['region'];
-		$params['hostname'] = ( !isset($params['hostname'])) ? 's3.amazonaws.com' : $params['hostname'];
-		if (!isset($params['port'])) {
+		$params['region'] = ( ! isset($params['region']) || $params['region'] === '' ) ? 'eu-west-1' : $params['region'];
+		$params['hostname'] = ( !isset($params['hostname']) || $params['hostname'] === '' ) ? 's3.amazonaws.com' : $params['hostname'];
+		if (!isset($params['port']) || $params['port'] === '') {
 			$params['port'] = ($params['use_ssl'] === 'false') ? 80 : 443;
 		}
 		$base_url = $scheme.'://'.$params['hostname'].':'.$params['port'].'/';
diff --git a/apps/files_external/lib/config.php b/apps/files_external/lib/config.php
index aaa6c5be1a..12836c7b88 100755
--- a/apps/files_external/lib/config.php
+++ b/apps/files_external/lib/config.php
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ class OC_Mount_Config {
 				'key' => 'Access Key',
 				'secret' => '*Secret Key',
 				'bucket' => 'Bucket',
-				'hostname' => 'Hostname (optional)',
-				'port' => 'Port (optional)',
-				'region' => 'Region (optional)',
+				'hostname' => '&Hostname (optional)',
+				'port' => '&Port (optional)',
+				'region' => '&Region (optional)',
 				'use_ssl' => '!Enable SSL',
 				'use_path_style' => '!Enable Path Style'));
 
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ class OC_Mount_Config {
 				$storage = new $class($options);
 				return $storage->test();
 			} catch (Exception $exception) {
+				\OCP\Util::logException('files_external', $exception);
 				return false;
 			}
 		}