diff --git a/src/XrdS3/XrdS3Utils.cc b/src/XrdS3/XrdS3Utils.cc
index 567ac620de0..d840283cb3a 100644
--- a/src/XrdS3/XrdS3Utils.cc
+++ b/src/XrdS3/XrdS3Utils.cc
@@ -289,6 +289,22 @@ std::string S3Utils::timestampToRFC7231(const struct tm *gmt) {
   return std::string(buffer);
 }
 
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//! extract bucket name out of virtual host
+//! @param FQHN
+//! @return the name of the bucket or an empty string
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+std::string S3Utils::getBucketName(const std::string& host)
+{
+  auto ndot = std::count(host.begin(), host.end(), '.');
+  if ( ndot > 2)  {
+    // return bucket name
+    return host.substr(0, host.find('.'));
+  } else {
+    return "";
+  }
+}
+
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 //! make a path
 //!
diff --git a/src/XrdS3/XrdS3Utils.hh b/src/XrdS3/XrdS3Utils.hh
index 70e538d77b1..63c2a021687 100644
--- a/src/XrdS3/XrdS3Utils.hh
+++ b/src/XrdS3/XrdS3Utils.hh
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ class S3Utils {
   static std::string timestampToRFC7231(const time_t &t);
   static std::string timestampToRFC7231(const tm *t);
 
+  static std::string getBucketName(const std::string& host);
+  
   static int makePath(char *path, mode_t mode);
 
   static void RmPath(std::filesystem::path path,