diff --git a/openeogeotrellis/backend.py b/openeogeotrellis/backend.py
index 80bace52b..a4c8b4747 100644
--- a/openeogeotrellis/backend.py
+++ b/openeogeotrellis/backend.py
@@ -849,6 +849,16 @@ def _set_permissions(job_dir: Path):
                 model: JavaObject = RandomForestModel._load_java(sc=gps.get_spark_context(), path="file:" + unpacked_model_path)
                 return model
             elif architecture == "catboost":
+                if use_s3:
+                    # TODO: Verify that local files work. If it does, we can remove the model_dir_path implementation.
+                    # Download the model to the tmp directory and load it as a java object.
+                    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
+                        tmp_path = Path(tmp_dir + "/catboost_model.cbm")
+                        logger.info(f"Downloading ml_model from {model_url} to {tmp_path}")
+                        with open(tmp_path, 'wb') as f:
+                            f.write(requests.get(model_url).content)
+                        model: JavaObject = CatBoostClassificationModel.load_native_model(tmp_path)
+                        return model
                 filename = Path(model_dir_path + "/catboost_model.cbm")
                 with open(filename, 'wb') as f:
                     f.write(requests.get(model_url).content)