diff --git a/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/s3.py b/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/s3.py
index 4a2a15b7a9393..53b2747104380 100644
--- a/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/s3.py
+++ b/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/s3.py
@@ -806,10 +806,15 @@ def download_file(
         """
         self.log.info('Downloading source S3 file from Bucket %s with path %s', bucket_name, key)
 
-        if not self.check_for_key(key, bucket_name):
-            raise AirflowException(f'The source file in Bucket {bucket_name} with path {key} does not exist')
-
-        s3_obj = self.get_key(key, bucket_name)
+        try:
+            s3_obj = self.get_key(key, bucket_name)
+        except ClientError as e:
+            if e.response.get('Error', {}).get('Code') == 404:
+                raise AirflowException(
+                    f'The source file in Bucket {bucket_name} with path {key} does not exist'
+                )
+            else:
+                raise e
 
         with NamedTemporaryFile(dir=local_path, prefix='airflow_tmp_', delete=False) as local_tmp_file:
             s3_obj.download_fileobj(local_tmp_file)
diff --git a/tests/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/test_s3.py b/tests/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/test_s3.py
index d4d20b530da1b..934993c040566 100644
--- a/tests/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/test_s3.py
+++ b/tests/providers/amazon/aws/hooks/test_s3.py
@@ -444,7 +444,6 @@ def test_download_file(self, mock_temp_file):
 
         s3_hook.download_file(key=key, bucket_name=bucket)
 
-        s3_hook.check_for_key.assert_called_once_with(key, bucket)
         s3_hook.get_key.assert_called_once_with(key, bucket)
         s3_obj.download_fileobj.assert_called_once_with(mock_temp_file)