diff --git a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_put.go b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_put.go
index 0bb9d2795..dc97fb813 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_put.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_handlers_put.go
@@ -643,7 +643,7 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) updateLatestVersionInDirectory(bucket, object, versionId
 	// Get the current .versions directory entry with retry logic for filer consistency
 	var versionsEntry *filer_pb.Entry
 	var err error
-	maxRetries := 5
+	maxRetries := 8
 	for attempt := 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++ {
 		versionsEntry, err = s3a.getEntry(bucketDir, versionsObjectPath)
 		if err == nil {
@@ -653,15 +653,16 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) updateLatestVersionInDirectory(bucket, object, versionId
 		glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: updateLatestVersionInDirectory: attempt %d/%d failed to get .versions entry for %s/%s: %v", attempt, maxRetries, bucket, object, err)
 		
 		if attempt < maxRetries {
-			// Exponential backoff: 50ms, 100ms, 200ms, 400ms
-			delay := time.Millisecond * time.Duration(50 * (1 << (attempt - 1)))
+			// Exponential backoff with higher base: 100ms, 200ms, 400ms, 800ms, 1600ms, 3200ms, 6400ms
+			delay := time.Millisecond * time.Duration(100 * (1 << (attempt - 1)))
+			glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: updateLatestVersionInDirectory: sleeping %v before retry %d", delay, attempt+1)
 			time.Sleep(delay)
 		}
 	}
 	
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Errorf("updateLatestVersionInDirectory: failed to get .versions directory for %s/%s after %d attempts: %v", bucket, object, maxRetries, err)
-		glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: updateLatestVersionInDirectory: FAILED to get .versions entry for %s/%s after %d attempts: %v", bucket, object, maxRetries, err)
+		glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: updateLatestVersionInDirectory: FAILED to get .versions entry for %s/%s after %d attempts (total delay ~%dms): %v", bucket, object, maxRetries, (100*(1<<maxRetries-1)-100), err)
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get .versions directory after %d attempts: %w", maxRetries, err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_versioning.go b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_versioning.go
index df8ada047..568cde05c 100644
--- a/weed/s3api/s3api_object_versioning.go
+++ b/weed/s3api/s3api_object_versioning.go
@@ -785,7 +785,7 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) getLatestObjectVersion(bucket, object string) (*filer_pb
 	// Get the .versions directory entry to read latest version metadata with retry logic for filer consistency
 	var versionsEntry *filer_pb.Entry
 	var err error
-	maxRetries := 5
+	maxRetries := 8
 	for attempt := 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++ {
 		versionsEntry, err = s3a.getEntry(bucketDir, versionsObjectPath)
 		if err == nil {
@@ -795,8 +795,9 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) getLatestObjectVersion(bucket, object string) (*filer_pb
 		glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: attempt %d/%d failed to get .versions directory for %s/%s: %v", attempt, maxRetries, bucket, object, err)
 		
 		if attempt < maxRetries {
-			// Exponential backoff: 50ms, 100ms, 200ms, 400ms
-			delay := time.Millisecond * time.Duration(50 * (1 << (attempt - 1)))
+			// Exponential backoff with higher base: 100ms, 200ms, 400ms, 800ms, 1600ms, 3200ms, 6400ms
+			delay := time.Millisecond * time.Duration(100 * (1 << (attempt - 1)))
+			glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: sleeping %v before retry %d", delay, attempt+1)
 			time.Sleep(delay)
 		}
 	}
@@ -806,7 +807,7 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) getLatestObjectVersion(bucket, object string) (*filer_pb
 		// before versioning was enabled on the bucket. Fall back to checking for a
 		// regular (non-versioned) object file.
 		glog.V(1).Infof("getLatestObjectVersion: no .versions directory for %s%s after %d attempts (error: %v), checking for pre-versioning object", bucket, object, maxRetries, err)
-		glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: no .versions directory for %s/%s after %d attempts (error: %v), falling back to pre-versioning", bucket, object, maxRetries, err)
+		glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: no .versions directory for %s/%s after %d attempts (total delay ~%dms, error: %v), falling back to pre-versioning", bucket, object, maxRetries, (100*(1<<maxRetries-1)-100), err)
 
 		regularEntry, regularErr := s3a.getEntry(bucketDir, object)
 		if regularErr != nil {
@@ -818,20 +819,42 @@ func (s3a *S3ApiServer) getLatestObjectVersion(bucket, object string) (*filer_pb
 		return regularEntry, nil
 	}
 
-	// Check if directory has latest version metadata
+	// Check if directory has latest version metadata - retry if missing due to race condition
 	if versionsEntry.Extended == nil {
-		// No metadata means all versioned objects have been deleted.
-		// Fall back to checking for a pre-versioning object.
-		glog.V(2).Infof("getLatestObjectVersion: no Extended metadata in .versions directory for %s%s, checking for pre-versioning object", bucket, object)
-		glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: .versions directory exists but NO Extended metadata for %s/%s - possible race condition", bucket, object)
-
-		regularEntry, regularErr := s3a.getEntry(bucketDir, object)
-		if regularErr != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("no version metadata in .versions directory and no regular object found for %s%s", bucket, object)
+		glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: .versions directory exists but NO Extended metadata for %s/%s - retrying to handle race condition", bucket, object)
+		
+		// Retry a few times to handle the race condition where directory exists but metadata is not yet written
+		metadataRetries := 3
+		for metaAttempt := 1; metaAttempt <= metadataRetries; metaAttempt++ {
+			glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: metadata retry %d/%d for %s/%s", metaAttempt, metadataRetries, bucket, object)
+			
+			// Small delay and re-read the directory
+			time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 100)
+			versionsEntry, err = s3a.getEntry(bucketDir, versionsObjectPath)
+			if err != nil {
+				glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: metadata retry %d failed to re-read .versions for %s/%s: %v", metaAttempt, bucket, object, err)
+				break
+			}
+			
+			if versionsEntry.Extended != nil {
+				glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: metadata retry %d SUCCESS - found Extended metadata for %s/%s", metaAttempt, bucket, object)
+				break
+			}
 		}
+		
+		// If still no metadata after retries, fall back to pre-versioning object
+		if versionsEntry.Extended == nil {
+			glog.V(2).Infof("getLatestObjectVersion: no Extended metadata in .versions directory for %s%s after retries, checking for pre-versioning object", bucket, object)
+			glog.V(0).Infof("CI-DEBUG: getLatestObjectVersion: NO Extended metadata for %s/%s after %d retries - falling back to pre-versioning", bucket, object, metadataRetries)
+
+			regularEntry, regularErr := s3a.getEntry(bucketDir, object)
+			if regularErr != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("no version metadata in .versions directory and no regular object found for %s%s", bucket, object)
+			}
 
-		glog.V(2).Infof("getLatestObjectVersion: found pre-versioning object for %s%s (no Extended metadata case)", bucket, object)
-		return regularEntry, nil
+			glog.V(2).Infof("getLatestObjectVersion: found pre-versioning object for %s%s (no Extended metadata case)", bucket, object)
+			return regularEntry, nil
+		}
 	}
 
 	latestVersionIdBytes, hasLatestVersionId := versionsEntry.Extended[s3_constants.ExtLatestVersionIdKey]