diff --git a/lib/plugins/awsCompileS3Events/awsCompileS3Events.js b/lib/plugins/awsCompileS3Events/awsCompileS3Events.js
index 797015a49..12d7018f7 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/awsCompileS3Events/awsCompileS3Events.js
+++ b/lib/plugins/awsCompileS3Events/awsCompileS3Events.js
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ class AwsCompileS3Events {
     this.serverless.service.getAllFunctions().forEach((functionName) => {
       const s3BucketObject = this.serverless.service.getFunction(functionName);
 
-      if (s3BucketObject.events.aws.s3) {
+      // checking all three levels in the obj tree
+      // to avoid "can't read property of undefined" error
+      if (s3BucketObject.events && s3BucketObject.events.aws && s3BucketObject.events.aws.s3) {
         // iterate over all defined buckets
         s3BucketObject.events.aws.s3.forEach((bucketName) => {
           // 1. create the S3 bucket with the corresponding notification