diff --git a/smart_open/s3.py b/smart_open/s3.py
index 354c227b..a33b402e 100644
--- a/smart_open/s3.py
+++ b/smart_open/s3.py
@@ -418,14 +418,6 @@ def __init__(
             multipart_upload_kwargs = {}
 
         s3 = session.resource('s3', **resource_kwargs)
-
-        #
-        # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26871884/how-can-i-easily-determine-if-a-boto-3-s3-bucket-resource-exists
-        #
-        try:
-            s3.meta.client.head_bucket(Bucket=bucket)
-        except botocore.client.ClientError:
-            raise ValueError('the bucket %r does not exist, or is forbidden for access' % bucket)
         self._object = s3.Object(bucket, key)
         self._min_part_size = min_part_size
         self._mp = self._object.initiate_multipart_upload(**multipart_upload_kwargs)