diff --git a/.changes/next-release/bugfix-S3-3229.json b/.changes/next-release/bugfix-S3-3229.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..dd87b30c380e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/next-release/bugfix-S3-3229.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  "type": "bugfix",
+  "category": "S3",
+  "description": "S3 commands that encountered both an error and warning will now return the RC for error instead of warning."
+}
diff --git a/awscli/customizations/s3/subcommands.py b/awscli/customizations/s3/subcommands.py
index da30d6692e6d..2ce9ead2b75a 100644
--- a/awscli/customizations/s3/subcommands.py
+++ b/awscli/customizations/s3/subcommands.py
@@ -1082,7 +1082,7 @@ def run(self):
         rc = 0
         if files[0].num_tasks_failed > 0:
             rc = 1
-        if files[0].num_tasks_warned > 0:
+        elif files[0].num_tasks_warned > 0:
             rc = 2
         return rc
 
diff --git a/tests/functional/s3/test_cp_command.py b/tests/functional/s3/test_cp_command.py
index b51a39dd1593..5e3c5a3b5aa4 100644
--- a/tests/functional/s3/test_cp_command.py
+++ b/tests/functional/s3/test_cp_command.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 import mock
 
 from awscli.testutils import BaseAWSCommandParamsTest, FileCreator
-from awscli.testutils import capture_input
+from awscli.testutils import capture_input, set_invalid_utime
 from awscli.compat import six
 
 
@@ -459,6 +459,23 @@ def test_upload_unicode_path(self):
         progress_message = 'Completed 10 Bytes'
         self.assertIn(progress_message, stdout)
 
+    def test_cp_with_error_and_warning(self):
+        command = "s3 cp %s s3://bucket/foo.txt"
+        self.parsed_responses = [{
+            'Error': {
+                'Code': 'NoSuchBucket',
+                'Message': 'The specified bucket does not exist',
+                'BucketName': 'bucket'
+            }
+        }]
+        self.http_response.status_code = 404
+
+        full_path = self.files.create_file('foo.txt', 'bar')
+        set_invalid_utime(full_path)
+        _, stderr, rc = self.run_cmd(command % full_path, expected_rc=1)
+        self.assertIn('upload failed', stderr)
+        self.assertIn('warning: File has an invalid timestamp.', stderr)
+
 
 class TestStreamingCPCommand(BaseAWSCommandParamsTest):
     def test_streaming_upload(self):