diff --git a/s3api/controllers/bucket-post.go b/s3api/controllers/bucket-post.go
index b9a082f..b7545b9 100644
--- a/s3api/controllers/bucket-post.go
+++ b/s3api/controllers/bucket-post.go
@@ -57,6 +57,17 @@ func (c S3ApiController) DeleteObjects(ctx fiber.Ctx) (*Response, error) {
 		}, s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrInvalidRequest)
 	}
 
+	// S3 requires at least one object in a DeleteObjects request and
+	// rejects an empty delete list as malformed.
+	if len(dObj.Objects) == 0 {
+		debuglogger.Logf("delete objects: no keys in the request")
+		return &Response{
+			MetaOpts: &MetaOptions{
+				BucketOwner: parsedAcl.Owner,
+			},
+		}, s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrMalformedXML)
+	}
+
 	// S3 caps a single DeleteObjects request at 1000 keys. Reject an
 	// over-limit request before authorization and before anything reaches
 	// the backend, so a too-large batch can't be applied partially.
diff --git a/s3api/controllers/bucket-post_test.go b/s3api/controllers/bucket-post_test.go
index e7c1dc0..eb63a10 100644
--- a/s3api/controllers/bucket-post_test.go
+++ b/s3api/controllers/bucket-post_test.go
@@ -241,13 +241,17 @@ func TestS3ApiController_DeleteObjects(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			output: testOutput{
 				response: &Response{
-					Data: s3response.DeleteResult{},
 					MetaOpts: &MetaOptions{
 						BucketOwner: "root",
-						EventName:   s3event.EventObjectRemovedDeleteObjects,
-						ObjectCount: 0,
 					},
 				},
+				err: s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrMalformedXML),
+			},
+			configureMock: func(be *BackendMock) {
+				be.DeleteObjectsFunc = func(contextMoqParam context.Context, deleteObjectsInput *s3.DeleteObjectsInput) (s3response.DeleteResult, error) {
+					t.Error("backend DeleteObjects called for an empty delete list")
+					return s3response.DeleteResult{}, nil
+				}
 			},
 		},
 		{
diff --git a/tests/integration/DeleteObjects.go b/tests/integration/DeleteObjects.go
index bf97149..7162631 100644
--- a/tests/integration/DeleteObjects.go
+++ b/tests/integration/DeleteObjects.go
@@ -49,25 +49,17 @@ func DeleteObjects_empty_input(s *S3Conf) error {
 		}
 
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), shortTimeout)
-		out, err := s3client.DeleteObjects(ctx, &s3.DeleteObjectsInput{
+		_, err = s3client.DeleteObjects(ctx, &s3.DeleteObjectsInput{
 			Bucket: &bucket,
 			Delete: &types.Delete{
 				Objects: []types.ObjectIdentifier{},
 			},
 		})
 		cancel()
-		if err != nil {
+		if err := checkApiErr(err, s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrMalformedXML)); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		if len(out.Deleted) != 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("expected deleted object count 0, instead got %v",
-				len(out.Deleted))
-		}
-		if len(out.Errors) != 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("expected 0 errors, instead got %v", len(out.Errors))
-		}
-
 		ctx, cancel = context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), shortTimeout)
 		res, err := s3client.ListObjects(ctx, &s3.ListObjectsInput{
 			Bucket: &bucket,
diff --git a/tests/test_rest_delete_objects.sh b/tests/test_rest_delete_objects.sh
index 29c4890..9bb7ecb 100644
--- a/tests/test_rest_delete_objects.sh
+++ b/tests/test_rest_delete_objects.sh
@@ -36,9 +36,6 @@ source ./tests/setup.sh
 
 # tags: curl, DeleteObjects, malformed-message
 @test "REST - DeleteObjects - no objects added to payload" {
-  if [ "$DIRECT" != "true" ]; then
-    skip "https://github.com/versity/versitygw/issues/2109"
-  fi
   run setup_bucket_and_file_v3 "$BUCKET_ONE_NAME"
   assert_success
   read -r bucket_name file_name <<< "$output"