diff --git a/engine/storage/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/endpoint/DefaultEndPointSelector.java b/engine/storage/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/endpoint/DefaultEndPointSelector.java
index 7e9f65f43b34..1d3b781afb12 100644
--- a/engine/storage/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/endpoint/DefaultEndPointSelector.java
+++ b/engine/storage/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/endpoint/DefaultEndPointSelector.java
@@ -400,7 +400,9 @@ public EndPoint select(DataObject object) {
         }
         if (object instanceof TemplateInfo) {
             TemplateInfo tmplInfo = (TemplateInfo)object;
-            if (store.getScope().getScopeType() == ScopeType.ZONE && store.getScope().getScopeId() == null && tmplInfo.getTemplateType() == TemplateType.SYSTEM) {
+            if (tmplInfo.getTemplateType() == TemplateType.SYSTEM &&
+                (store.getScope().getScopeType() == ScopeType.REGION ||
+                 (store.getScope().getScopeType() == ScopeType.ZONE && store.getScope().getScopeId() == null))) {
                 return LocalHostEndpoint.getEndpoint(); // for bootstrap system vm template downloading to region image store
             }
         }
diff --git a/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/SecondaryStorageManagerImpl.java b/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/SecondaryStorageManagerImpl.java
index 5698632249d3..66aab2a39c8f 100644
--- a/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/SecondaryStorageManagerImpl.java
+++ b/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/SecondaryStorageManagerImpl.java
@@ -1247,6 +1247,10 @@ public boolean finalizeVirtualMachineProfile(VirtualMachineProfile profile, Depl
     protected void addSecondaryStorageServerAddressToBuffer(StringBuilder buffer, List<DataStore> dataStores, String vmName) {
         List<String> addresses = new ArrayList<>();
         for (DataStore dataStore: dataStores) {
+            // S3 and other object stores may not have a URL, so better to skip them
+            if (dataStore == null || dataStore.getTO() == null || dataStore.getTO().getUrl() == null) {
+                continue;
+            }
             String url = dataStore.getTO().getUrl();
             String[] urlArray = url.split("/");
 
diff --git a/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/test/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/SecondaryStorageManagerImplTest.java b/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/test/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/SecondaryStorageManagerImplTest.java
index 83596b64ec0f..d5719aee398b 100644
--- a/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/test/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/SecondaryStorageManagerImplTest.java
+++ b/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/test/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/SecondaryStorageManagerImplTest.java
@@ -117,6 +117,45 @@ public void testAddSecondaryStorageServerAddressToBufferInvalidAddress() {
         runAddSecondaryStorageServerAddressToBufferTest(addresses, StringUtils.join(List.of(randomIp1, randomIp2), ","));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testAddSecondaryStorageServerAddressToBufferWithNullEntries() {
+        String randomIp1 = InetAddresses.fromInteger(secureRandom.nextInt()).getHostAddress();
+        String randomIp2 = InetAddresses.fromInteger(secureRandom.nextInt()).getHostAddress();
+
+        List<DataStore> dataStores = new ArrayList<>();
+
+        DataStore validStore1 = Mockito.mock(DataStore.class);
+        DataStoreTO validStoreTO1 = Mockito.mock(DataStoreTO.class);
+        when(validStoreTO1.getUrl()).thenReturn(String.format("http://%s", randomIp1));
+        when(validStore1.getTO()).thenReturn(validStoreTO1);
+        dataStores.add(validStore1);
+
+        dataStores.add(null);
+
+        DataStore nullToStore = Mockito.mock(DataStore.class);
+        when(nullToStore.getTO()).thenReturn(null);
+        dataStores.add(nullToStore);
+
+        DataStore nullUrlStore = Mockito.mock(DataStore.class);
+        DataStoreTO nullUrlStoreTO = Mockito.mock(DataStoreTO.class);
+        when(nullUrlStoreTO.getUrl()).thenReturn(null);
+        when(nullUrlStore.getTO()).thenReturn(nullUrlStoreTO);
+        dataStores.add(nullUrlStore);
+
+        DataStore validStore2 = Mockito.mock(DataStore.class);
+        DataStoreTO validStoreTO2 = Mockito.mock(DataStoreTO.class);
+        when(validStoreTO2.getUrl()).thenReturn(String.format("http://%s", randomIp2));
+        when(validStore2.getTO()).thenReturn(validStoreTO2);
+        dataStores.add(validStore2);
+
+        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
+        secondaryStorageManager.addSecondaryStorageServerAddressToBuffer(builder, dataStores, "VM");
+        String result = builder.toString();
+        result = result.contains("=") ? result.split("=")[1] : null;
+
+        assertEquals(StringUtils.join(List.of(randomIp1, randomIp2), ","), result);
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testCreateSecondaryStorageVm_New() {
         long dataCenterId = 1L;
diff --git a/utils/src/main/java/com/cloud/utils/storage/S3/S3Utils.java b/utils/src/main/java/com/cloud/utils/storage/S3/S3Utils.java
index 6d85d2d1dadb..c04e14a9a0ba 100644
--- a/utils/src/main/java/com/cloud/utils/storage/S3/S3Utils.java
+++ b/utils/src/main/java/com/cloud/utils/storage/S3/S3Utils.java
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ public static TransferManager getTransferManager(final ClientOptions clientOptio
             LOGGER.debug(format("Setting the end point for S3 client with access key %1$s to %2$s.", clientOptions.getAccessKey(), clientOptions.getEndPoint()));
 
             client.setEndpoint(clientOptions.getEndPoint());
+            // Enable path-style access for S3-compatible storage
+            client.setS3ClientOptions(com.amazonaws.services.s3.S3ClientOptions.builder().setPathStyleAccess(true).build());
         }
 
         TRANSFERMANAGER_ACCESSKEY_MAP.put(clientOptions.getAccessKey(), new TransferManager(client));