diff --git a/pkg/asset/installconfig/aws/permissions.go b/pkg/asset/installconfig/aws/permissions.go
index 4e0b0d1123c..b3b86ce06c3 100644
--- a/pkg/asset/installconfig/aws/permissions.go
+++ b/pkg/asset/installconfig/aws/permissions.go
@@ -2,6 +2,224 @@
 package aws
 
 import (
-	_ "github.com/openshift/cloud-credential-operator/pkg/aws"
-	_ "github.com/openshift/cloud-credential-operator/pkg/controller/utils"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/session"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+
+	ccaws "github.com/openshift/cloud-credential-operator/pkg/aws"
+	credvalidator "github.com/openshift/cloud-credential-operator/pkg/controller/utils"
 )
+
+var installPermissions = []string{
+	// EC2 related perms
+	"ec2:AllocateAddress",
+	"ec2:AssociateAddress",
+	"ec2:AssociateDhcpOptions",
+	"ec2:AssociateRouteTable",
+	"ec2:AttachInternetGateway",
+	"ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupEgress",
+	"ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress",
+	"ec2:CreateDhcpOptions",
+	"ec2:CreateInternetGateway",
+	"ec2:CreateNatGateway",
+	"ec2:CreateRoute",
+	"ec2:CreateRouteTable",
+	"ec2:CreateSecurityGroup",
+	"ec2:CreateSubnet",
+	"ec2:CreateTags",
+	"ec2:CreateVpc",
+	"ec2:CreateVpcEndpoint",
+	"ec2:CreateVolume",
+	"ec2:DescribeAccountAttributes",
+	"ec2:DescribeAddresses",
+	"ec2:DescribeAvailabilityZones",
+	"ec2:DescribeDhcpOptions",
+	"ec2:DescribeImages",
+	"ec2:DescribeInstanceAttribute",
+	"ec2:DescribeInstanceCreditSpecifications",
+	"ec2:DescribeInstances",
+	"ec2:DescribeInternetGateways",
+	"ec2:DescribeKeyPairs",
+	"ec2:DescribeNatGateways",
+	"ec2:DescribeNetworkAcls",
+	"ec2:DescribePrefixLists",
+	"ec2:DescribeRegions",
+	"ec2:DescribeRouteTables",
+	"ec2:DescribeSecurityGroups",
+	"ec2:DescribeSubnets",
+	"ec2:DescribeTags",
+	"ec2:DescribeVpcEndpoints",
+	"ec2:DescribeVpcs",
+	"ec2:DescribeVpcAttribute",
+	"ec2:DescribeVolumes",
+	"ec2:DescribeVpcClassicLink",
+	"ec2:DescribeVpcClassicLinkDnsSupport",
+	"ec2:ModifyInstanceAttribute",
+	"ec2:ModifySubnetAttribute",
+	"ec2:ModifyVpcAttribute",
+	"ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupEgress",
+	"ec2:RunInstances",
+	"ec2:TerminateInstances",
+	"ec2:DeleteDhcpOptions",
+	"ec2:DeleteRoute",
+	"ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupIngress",
+	"ec2:DisassociateRouteTable",
+	"ec2:ReplaceRouteTableAssociation",
+	"ec2:DeleteRouteTable",
+	"ec2:DeleteSubnet",
+	"ec2:DescribeNetworkInterfaces",
+	"ec2:ModifyNetworkInterfaceAttribute",
+	"ec2:DeleteNatGateway",
+	"ec2:DeleteSecurityGroup",
+	"ec2:DetachInternetGateway",
+	"ec2:DeleteInternetGateway",
+	"ec2:ReleaseAddress",
+	"ec2:DeleteVpc",
+
+	// ELB related perms
+	"elasticloadbalancing:AddTags",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:ApplySecurityGroupsToLoadBalancer",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:AttachLoadBalancerToSubnets",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:CreateListener",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:CreateLoadBalancer",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:CreateLoadBalancerListeners",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:CreateTargetGroup",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:ConfigureHealthCheck",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DeleteLoadBalancer",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DeregisterInstancesFromLoadBalancer",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DeregisterTargets",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeInstanceHealth",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeListeners",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeLoadBalancers",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeLoadBalancerAttributes",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeTags",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeTargetGroupAttributes",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeTargetHealth",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:ModifyLoadBalancerAttributes",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:ModifyTargetGroup",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:ModifyTargetGroupAttributes",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:RegisterTargets",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:RegisterInstancesWithLoadBalancer",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:SetLoadBalancerPoliciesOfListener",
+
+	// IAM related perms
+	"iam:AddRoleToInstanceProfile",
+	"iam:CreateInstanceProfile",
+	"iam:CreateRole",
+	"iam:DeleteInstanceProfile",
+	"iam:DeleteRole",
+	"iam:DeleteRolePolicy",
+	"iam:GetInstanceProfile",
+	"iam:GetRole",
+	"iam:GetRolePolicy",
+	"iam:GetUser",
+	"iam:ListInstanceProfilesForRole",
+	"iam:ListRoles",
+	"iam:ListUsers",
+	"iam:PassRole",
+	"iam:PutRolePolicy",
+	"iam:RemoveRoleFromInstanceProfile",
+	"iam:SimulatePrincipalPolicy",
+	"iam:TagRole",
+
+	// Route53 related perms
+	"route53:ChangeResourceRecordSets",
+	"route53:ChangeTagsForResource",
+	"route53:GetChange",
+	"route53:GetHostedZone",
+	"route53:CreateHostedZone",
+	"route53:DeleteHostedZone",
+	"route53:ListHostedZones",
+	"route53:ListHostedZonesByName",
+	"route53:ListResourceRecordSets",
+	"route53:ListTagsForResource",
+	"route53:UpdateHostedZoneComment",
+
+	// S3 related perms
+	"s3:CreateBucket",
+	"s3:ListBucket",
+	"s3:GetBucketCors",
+	"s3:GetBucketWebsite",
+	"s3:GetBucketVersioning",
+	"s3:GetAccelerateConfiguration",
+	"s3:GetEncryptionConfiguration",
+	"s3:GetBucketRequestPayment",
+	"s3:GetBucketLogging",
+	"s3:GetLifecycleConfiguration",
+	"s3:GetBucketReplication",
+	"s3:GetReplicationConfiguration",
+	"s3:GetBucketLocation",
+	"s3:GetBucketTagging",
+	"s3:DeleteBucket",
+	"s3:PutBucketAcl",
+	"s3:PutBucketTagging",
+	"s3:PutEncryptionConfiguration",
+
+	// More S3 (would be nice to limit 'Resource' to just the bucket we actualy interact with...)
+	"s3:PutObject",
+	"s3:PutObjectAcl",
+	"s3:PutObjectTagging",
+	"s3:GetObject",
+	"s3:GetObjectAcl",
+	"s3:GetObjectTagging",
+	"s3:GetObjectVersion",
+	"s3:DeleteObject",
+
+	// Uninstall-specific perms
+	"autoscaling:DescribeAutoScalingGroups",
+	"ec2:DeleteNetworkInterface",
+	"ec2:DeleteVolume",
+	"ec2:DeleteVpcEndpoints",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeTargetGroups",
+	"elasticloadbalancing:DeleteTargetGroup",
+	"iam:ListInstanceProfiles",
+	"iam:ListRolePolicies",
+	"iam:ListUserPolicies",
+	"tag:GetResources",
+}
+
+// ValidateCreds will try to create an AWS session, and also verify that the current credentials
+// are sufficient to perform an installation, and that they can be used for cluster runtime
+// as either capable of creating new credentials for components that interact with the cloud or
+// being able to be passed through as-is to the components that need cloud credentials
+func ValidateCreds(ssn *session.Session) error {
+	creds, err := ssn.Config.Credentials.Get()
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "getting creds from session")
+	}
+
+	client, err := ccaws.NewClient([]byte(creds.AccessKeyID), []byte(creds.SecretAccessKey))
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "initialize cloud-credentials client")
+	}
+
+	// Check whether we can do an installation
+	logger := logrus.New()
+	canInstall, err := credvalidator.CheckPermissionsAgainstActions(client, installPermissions, logger)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "checking install permissions")
+	}
+	if !canInstall {
+		return errors.New("current credentials insufficient for performing cluster installation")
+	}
+
+	// Check whether we can mint new creds for cluster services needing to interact with the cloud
+	canMint, err := credvalidator.CheckCloudCredCreation(client, logger)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "mint credentials check")
+	}
+
+	// Check whether we can use the current credentials in passthrough mode to satisfy
+	// cluster services needing to interact with the cloud
+	canPassthrough, err := credvalidator.CheckCloudCredPassthrough(client, logger)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "passthrough credentials check")
+	}
+
+	if !canMint && !canPassthrough {
+		return errors.New("AWS credentials cannot be used to either create new creds or use as-is")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/asset/installconfig/platformcredscheck.go b/pkg/asset/installconfig/platformcredscheck.go
index 671ae141974..160f96c6f4f 100644
--- a/pkg/asset/installconfig/platformcredscheck.go
+++ b/pkg/asset/installconfig/platformcredscheck.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/openshift/installer/pkg/types/libvirt"
 	"github.com/openshift/installer/pkg/types/none"
 	"github.com/openshift/installer/pkg/types/openstack"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
 
 // PlatformCredsCheck is an asset that checks the platform credentials, asks for them or errors out if invalid
@@ -35,7 +36,14 @@ func (a *PlatformCredsCheck) Generate(dependencies asset.Parents) error {
 	platform := ic.Config.Platform.Name()
 	switch platform {
 	case aws.Name:
-		_, err = awsconfig.GetSession()
+		ssn, err := awsconfig.GetSession()
+		if err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "creating AWS session")
+		}
+		err = awsconfig.ValidateCreds(ssn)
+		if err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "validate AWS credentials")
+		}
 	case libvirt.Name:
 	case none.Name:
 	case openstack.Name: