diff --git a/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumValidatingInputStream.java b/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumValidatingInputStream.java
index 36fff298baf0..d9716e1e269c 100644
--- a/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumValidatingInputStream.java
+++ b/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumValidatingInputStream.java
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.annotations.SdkInternalApi;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.checksums.SdkChecksum;
-import software.amazon.awssdk.core.exception.SdkClientException;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.core.exception.RetryableException;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.http.Abortable;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.utils.BinaryUtils;
 
@@ -169,9 +169,10 @@ private void validateAndThrow() {
         }
 
         if (!Arrays.equals(computedChecksum, streamChecksum)) {
-            throw SdkClientException.builder().message(
-                String.format("Data read has a different checksum than expected. Was 0x%s, but expected 0x%s",
-                              BinaryUtils.toHex(computedChecksum), BinaryUtils.toHex(streamChecksum))).build();
+            throw RetryableException.create(
+                String.format("Data read has a different checksum than expected. Was 0x%s, but expected 0x%s. " +
+                              "This commonly means that the data was corrupted between the client and " +
+                              "service.", BinaryUtils.toHex(computedChecksum), BinaryUtils.toHex(streamChecksum)));
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumValidatingPublisher.java b/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumValidatingPublisher.java
index a3310331dd23..858af7a649f3 100644
--- a/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumValidatingPublisher.java
+++ b/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumValidatingPublisher.java
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 import software.amazon.awssdk.annotations.SdkInternalApi;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.async.SdkPublisher;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.checksums.SdkChecksum;
-import software.amazon.awssdk.core.exception.SdkClientException;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.core.exception.RetryableException;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.utils.BinaryUtils;
 
 @SdkInternalApi
@@ -134,8 +134,13 @@ public void onComplete() {
             if (strippedLength > 0) {
                 byte[] computedChecksum = sdkChecksum.getChecksumBytes();
                 if (!Arrays.equals(computedChecksum, streamChecksum)) {
-                    onError(SdkClientException.create(
-                        String.format("Data read has a different checksum than expected. Was 0x%s, but expected 0x%s",
+                    onError(RetryableException.create(
+                        String.format("Data read has a different checksum than expected. Was 0x%s, but expected 0x%s. "
+                                      + "Common causes: (1) You modified a request ByteBuffer before it could be "
+                                      + "written to the service. Please ensure your data source does not modify the "
+                                      + " byte buffers after you pass them to the SDK. (2) The data was corrupted between the "
+                                      + "client and service. Note: Despite this error, the upload still completed and was "
+                                      + "persisted in S3.",
                                       BinaryUtils.toHex(computedChecksum), BinaryUtils.toHex(streamChecksum))));
                     return; // Return after onError and not call onComplete below
                 }
diff --git a/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumsEnabledValidator.java b/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumsEnabledValidator.java
index 6c2afec748f0..366a692f034d 100644
--- a/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumsEnabledValidator.java
+++ b/services/s3/src/main/java/software/amazon/awssdk/services/s3/checksums/ChecksumsEnabledValidator.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.ClientType;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.SdkRequest;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.checksums.SdkChecksum;
-import software.amazon.awssdk.core.exception.SdkClientException;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.core.exception.RetryableException;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.interceptor.ExecutionAttribute;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.interceptor.ExecutionAttributes;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.core.interceptor.SdkExecutionAttribute;
@@ -144,8 +144,10 @@ public static void validatePutObjectChecksum(PutObjectResponse response, Executi
             byte[] ssHash = Base16Lower.decode(response.eTag().replace("\"", ""));
 
             if (!Arrays.equals(digest, ssHash)) {
-                throw SdkClientException.create(
-                    String.format("Data read has a different checksum than expected. Was 0x%s, but expected 0x%s",
+                throw RetryableException.create(
+                    String.format("Data read has a different checksum than expected. Was 0x%s, but expected 0x%s. " +
+                                  "This commonly means that the data was corrupted between the client and " +
+                                  "service. Note: Despite this error, the upload still completed and was persisted in S3.",
                                   BinaryUtils.toHex(digest), BinaryUtils.toHex(ssHash)));
             }
         }