diff --git a/rohmu/factory.py b/rohmu/factory.py
index ee1ec7c1..ad855736 100644
--- a/rohmu/factory.py
+++ b/rohmu/factory.py
@@ -66,19 +66,23 @@ def get_transfer_model(storage_config: Config) -> StorageModel:
     return storage_class.config_model(**storage_config)
 
 
-def get_transfer(storage_config: Config) -> BaseTransfer[Any]:
+def get_transfer(storage_config: Config, create_if_missing: bool = True) -> BaseTransfer[Any]:
     storage_config = storage_config.copy()
     notifier_config = storage_config.pop("notifier", None)
     notifier = None
     if notifier_config is not None:
         notifier = get_notifier(notifier_config)
     model = get_transfer_model(storage_config)
-    return get_transfer_from_model(model, notifier)
+    return get_transfer_from_model(model, notifier, create_if_missing=create_if_missing)
 
 
-def get_transfer_from_model(model: StorageModelT, notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None) -> BaseTransfer[StorageModelT]:
+def get_transfer_from_model(
+    model: StorageModelT,
+    notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None,
+    create_if_missing: bool = True,
+) -> BaseTransfer[StorageModelT]:
     storage_class = get_class_for_storage_driver(model.storage_type)
-    return storage_class.from_model(model, notifier)
+    return storage_class.from_model(model, notifier, create_if_missing=create_if_missing)
 
 
 def _to_storage_driver(storage_type: str) -> StorageDriver:
diff --git a/rohmu/object_storage/azure.py b/rohmu/object_storage/azure.py
index 3e15e4af..b1ac7992 100644
--- a/rohmu/object_storage/azure.py
+++ b/rohmu/object_storage/azure.py
@@ -61,9 +61,10 @@ def __init__(
         proxy_info: Optional[dict[str, Union[str, int]]] = None,
         notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None,
         statsd_info: Optional[StatsdConfig] = None,
+        create_if_missing: bool = True,
     ) -> None:
         prefix = prefix.lstrip("/") if prefix else ""
-        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info)
+        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info, create_if_missing=create_if_missing)
         if not account_key and not sas_token:
             raise InvalidConfigurationError("One of account_key or sas_token must be specified to authenticate")
 
@@ -409,6 +410,7 @@ def get_or_create_container(self, container_name: str) -> str:
             container_name = container_name.value
         start_time = time.monotonic()
         try:
+            # TODO respect the self.create_if_missing flag
             self.get_blob_service_client().create_container(container_name)
         except ResourceExistsError:
             pass
diff --git a/rohmu/object_storage/base.py b/rohmu/object_storage/base.py
index 3a18eb73..6d5cfe37 100644
--- a/rohmu/object_storage/base.py
+++ b/rohmu/object_storage/base.py
@@ -69,9 +69,15 @@ class BaseTransfer(Generic[StorageModelT]):
 
     is_thread_safe: bool = False
     supports_concurrent_upload: bool = False
+    # Set to true if the storage is ready to be used (e.g. the bucket is created and access has been verified)
+    _initialized: bool = False
 
     def __init__(
-        self, prefix: Optional[str], notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None, statsd_info: Optional[StatsdConfig] = None
+        self,
+        prefix: Optional[str],
+        notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None,
+        statsd_info: Optional[StatsdConfig] = None,
+        create_if_missing: bool = True,
     ) -> None:
         self.log = logging.getLogger(self.__class__.__name__)
         if not prefix:
@@ -81,6 +87,12 @@ def __init__(
         self.prefix = prefix
         self.notifier = notifier or NullNotifier()
         self.stats = StatsClient(statsd_info)
+        self.create_if_missing = create_if_missing
+        self._initialized = True
+
+    @property
+    def initialized(self):
+        return self._initialized
 
     def close(self) -> None:
         """Release all resources associated with the Transfer object."""
@@ -138,8 +150,10 @@ def _should_multipart(
         return int(size) > chunk_size
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_model(cls, model: StorageModelT, notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None) -> Self:
-        return cls(**model.dict(by_alias=True, exclude={"storage_type"}), notifier=notifier)
+    def from_model(cls, model: StorageModelT, notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None, create_if_missing: bool = True) -> Self:
+        return cls(
+            **model.dict(by_alias=True, exclude={"storage_type"}), notifier=notifier, create_if_missing=create_if_missing
+        )
 
     def copy_file(
         self, *, source_key: str, destination_key: str, metadata: Optional[Metadata] = None, **_kwargs: Any
diff --git a/rohmu/object_storage/google.py b/rohmu/object_storage/google.py
index 81643a2e..91978a06 100644
--- a/rohmu/object_storage/google.py
+++ b/rohmu/object_storage/google.py
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from googleapiclient.discovery import build, Resource
+from googleapiclient._apis.storage.v1 import StorageResource
+from googleapiclient.discovery import build
 from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError
 from googleapiclient.http import (
     build_http,
@@ -182,12 +183,13 @@ def __init__(
         proxy_info: Optional[dict[str, Union[str, int]]] = None,
         notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None,
         statsd_info: Optional[StatsdConfig] = None,
+        create_if_missing: bool = True,
     ) -> None:
-        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info)
+        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info, create_if_missing=create_if_missing)
         self.project_id = project_id
         self.proxy_info = proxy_info
         self.google_creds = get_credentials(credential_file=credential_file, credentials=credentials)
-        self.gs: Optional[Resource] = self._init_google_client()
+        self.gs: Optional[StorageResource] = self._init_google_client()
         self.gs_object_client: Any = None
         self.bucket_name = self.get_or_create_bucket(bucket_name)
         self.log.debug("GoogleTransfer initialized")
@@ -200,7 +202,7 @@ def close(self) -> None:
             self.gs.close()
             self.gs = None
 
-    def _init_google_client(self) -> Resource:
+    def _init_google_client(self) -> StorageResource:
         start_time = time.monotonic()
         delay = 2
         while True:
@@ -598,16 +600,16 @@ def get_or_create_bucket(self, bucket_name: str) -> str:
         invalid bucket names ("Invalid bucket name") as well as for invalid
         project ("Invalid argument"), try to handle both gracefully."""
         start_time = time.time()
-        gs_buckets = self.gs.buckets()  # type: ignore[union-attr]
+        gs = self.gs
+        if gs is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("This method should not be called after closing the transfer")
+        gs_buckets = gs.buckets()
         try:
-            request = gs_buckets.get(bucket=bucket_name)
-            reporter = Reporter(StorageOperation.head_request)
-            self._retry_on_reset(request, request.execute, retry_reporter=reporter)
-            reporter.report(self.stats)
+            self._try_get_bucket(bucket_name, gs_buckets)
             self.log.debug("Bucket: %r already exists, took: %.3fs", bucket_name, time.time() - start_time)
         except HttpError as ex:
             if ex.resp["status"] == "404":
-                pass  # we need to create it
+                pass  # we may need to create it, depending on the create_if_missing_flag
             elif ex.resp["status"] == "403":
                 raise InvalidConfigurationError(f"Bucket {repr(bucket_name)} exists but isn't accessible")
             else:
@@ -615,11 +617,13 @@ def get_or_create_bucket(self, bucket_name: str) -> str:
         else:
             return bucket_name
 
+        if not self.create_if_missing:
+            # Mark the object as un-initialized so we don't attempt to use it for transfers when we did not create the bucket
+            self._initialized = False
+            return bucket_name
+
         try:
-            req = gs_buckets.insert(project=self.project_id, body={"name": bucket_name})
-            reporter = Reporter(StorageOperation.create_bucket)
-            self._retry_on_reset(req, req.execute, retry_reporter=reporter)
-            reporter.report(self.stats)
+            self._try_create_bucket(bucket_name, gs_buckets)
             self.log.debug("Created bucket: %r successfully, took: %.3fs", bucket_name, time.time() - start_time)
         except HttpError as ex:
             error = json.loads(ex.content.decode("utf-8"))["error"]
@@ -634,6 +638,18 @@ def get_or_create_bucket(self, bucket_name: str) -> str:
 
         return bucket_name
 
+    def _try_get_bucket(self, bucket_name: str, gs_buckets: StorageResource.BucketsResource) -> None:
+        request = gs_buckets.get(bucket=bucket_name)
+        reporter = Reporter(StorageOperation.head_request)
+        self._retry_on_reset(request, request.execute, retry_reporter=reporter)
+        reporter.report(self.stats)
+
+    def _try_create_bucket(self, bucket_name: str, gs_buckets: StorageResource.BucketsResource) -> None:
+        req = gs_buckets.insert(project=self.project_id, body={"name": bucket_name})
+        reporter = Reporter(StorageOperation.create_bucket)
+        self._retry_on_reset(req, req.execute, retry_reporter=reporter)
+        reporter.report(self.stats)
+
 
 class MediaStreamUpload(MediaUpload):
     """Support streaming arbitrary amount of data from non-seekable object supporting read method."""
diff --git a/rohmu/object_storage/local.py b/rohmu/object_storage/local.py
index 7c8695a5..a9a6f235 100644
--- a/rohmu/object_storage/local.py
+++ b/rohmu/object_storage/local.py
@@ -50,9 +50,10 @@ def __init__(
         prefix: Optional[str] = None,
         notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None,
         statsd_info: Optional[StatsdConfig] = None,
+        create_if_missing: bool = True,
     ) -> None:
         prefix = os.path.join(directory, (prefix or "").strip("/"))
-        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info)
+        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info, create_if_missing=create_if_missing)
         self.log.debug("LocalTransfer initialized")
 
     def copy_file(
diff --git a/rohmu/object_storage/s3.py b/rohmu/object_storage/s3.py
index 04ee1073..ae46fdbd 100644
--- a/rohmu/object_storage/s3.py
+++ b/rohmu/object_storage/s3.py
@@ -124,8 +124,9 @@ def __init__(
         aws_session_token: Optional[str] = None,
         use_dualstack_endpoint: Optional[bool] = True,
         statsd_info: Optional[StatsdConfig] = None,
+        create_if_missing: bool = True,
     ) -> None:
-        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info)
+        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info, create_if_missing=create_if_missing)
         self.bucket_name = bucket_name
         self.region = region
         self.aws_access_key_id = aws_access_key_id
@@ -605,6 +606,10 @@ def check_or_create_bucket(self) -> None:
                 raise
 
         if create_bucket:
+            if not self.create_if_missing:
+                self._initialized = False
+                return
+
             self.log.debug("Creating bucket: %r in location: %r", self.bucket_name, self.region)
             args: dict[str, Any] = {
                 "Bucket": self.bucket_name,
diff --git a/rohmu/object_storage/sftp.py b/rohmu/object_storage/sftp.py
index 97cdc0ad..89ab5f2a 100644
--- a/rohmu/object_storage/sftp.py
+++ b/rohmu/object_storage/sftp.py
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ def __init__(
         prefix: Optional[str] = None,
         notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None,
         statsd_info: Optional[StatsdConfig] = None,
+        create_if_missing: bool = True,
     ) -> None:
-        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info)
+        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info, create_if_missing=create_if_missing)
         self.server = server
         self.port = port
         self.username = username
diff --git a/rohmu/object_storage/swift.py b/rohmu/object_storage/swift.py
index dfa6650d..6661932d 100644
--- a/rohmu/object_storage/swift.py
+++ b/rohmu/object_storage/swift.py
@@ -80,9 +80,10 @@ def __init__(
         endpoint_type: Optional[str] = None,
         notifier: Optional[Notifier] = None,
         statsd_info: Optional[StatsdConfig] = None,
+        create_if_missing: bool = True,
     ) -> None:
         prefix = prefix.lstrip("/") if prefix else ""
-        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info)
+        super().__init__(prefix=prefix, notifier=notifier, statsd_info=statsd_info, create_if_missing=create_if_missing)
         self.container_name = container_name
 
         if auth_version == "3.0":
diff --git a/test/object_storage/test_google.py b/test/object_storage/test_google.py
index 1b57754e..6aed02cd 100644
--- a/test/object_storage/test_google.py
+++ b/test/object_storage/test_google.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 from unittest.mock import ANY, call, MagicMock, Mock, patch
 
 import base64
+import googleapiclient.errors
+import httplib2
 import pytest
 
 
@@ -36,6 +38,84 @@ def test_close() -> None:
         assert transfer.gs is None
 
 
+def _mock_403_response_from_google_api() -> Exception:
+    resp = httplib2.Response({"status": "403", "reason": "Unused"})
+    uri = "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b?project=project&alt=json"
+    content = (
+        b'{\n  "error": {\n    "code": 403,\n    "message": "account@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com does not have stor'
+        b"age.buckets.create access to the Google Cloud project. Permission 'storage.buckets.create' denied on resource "
+        b'(or it may not exist).",\n    "errors": [\n      {\n        "message": "account@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com '
+        b"does not have storage.buckets.create access to the Google Cloud project. Permission 'storage.buckets.create' "
+        b'denied on resource (or it may not exist).",\n        "domain": "global",\n        "reason": "forbidden"'
+        b"\n      }\n    ]\n  }\n}\n"
+    )
+    return googleapiclient.errors.HttpError(resp, content, uri)
+
+
+def _mock_404_response_from_google_api() -> Exception:
+    resp = httplib2.Response({"status": "404", "reason": "Unused"})
+    uri = "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b?project=project&alt=json"
+    content = b"""{"error": {"code": 404, "message": "Does not matter"}}"""
+    return googleapiclient.errors.HttpError(resp, content, uri)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "create_if_missing,bucket_exists,sabotage_create,expect_create_call",
+    [
+        # Happy path
+        pytest.param(True, True, False, False, id="happy-path-exists"),
+        pytest.param(True, False, False, True, id="happy-path-not-exists"),
+        # Happy path - without attempting to create buckets
+        pytest.param(False, True, False, False, id="no-create-exists"),
+        pytest.param(False, False, False, False, id="no-create-not-exists"),
+        # 403 failures when trying to create should not matter with create_if_missing=False
+        pytest.param(False, False, True, False, id="error-behaviour"),
+        # 403 failures when trying to create should crash with create_if_missing=False
+        pytest.param(True, False, True, True, id="graceful-403-handling"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_handle_missing_bucket(
+    create_if_missing: bool, bucket_exists: bool, sabotage_create: bool, expect_create_call: bool
+) -> None:
+    with ExitStack() as stack:
+        stack.enter_context(patch("rohmu.object_storage.google.get_credentials"))
+
+        _try_get_bucket = stack.enter_context(patch("rohmu.object_storage.google.GoogleTransfer._try_get_bucket"))
+        if not bucket_exists:
+            # If the bucket exists, the return value is ignored. This simulates a missing bucket.
+            _try_get_bucket.side_effect = _mock_404_response_from_google_api()
+
+        _try_create_bucket = stack.enter_context(patch("rohmu.object_storage.google.GoogleTransfer._try_create_bucket"))
+        if sabotage_create:
+            _try_create_bucket.side_effect = _mock_403_response_from_google_api()
+
+        if expect_create_call and sabotage_create:
+            with pytest.raises(googleapiclient.errors.HttpError):
+                _ = GoogleTransfer(
+                    project_id="test-project-id",
+                    bucket_name="test-bucket",
+                    create_if_missing=create_if_missing,
+                )
+        else:
+            transfer = GoogleTransfer(
+                project_id="test-project-id",
+                bucket_name="test-bucket",
+                create_if_missing=create_if_missing,
+            )
+            if bucket_exists or expect_create_call:
+                # The bucket is here, we want to create it, and we didn't sabotage it with a 403
+                assert transfer.initialized is True
+            else:
+                # The bucket is missing, we don't want to create it and/or the code path for a 403 was not exercised at all
+                assert transfer.initialized is False
+
+        _try_get_bucket.assert_called_once()
+        if expect_create_call:
+            _try_create_bucket.assert_called_once()
+        else:
+            _try_create_bucket.assert_not_called()
+
+
 def test_store_file_from_memory() -> None:
     notifier = MagicMock()
     with ExitStack() as stack: