diff --git a/plugin/build.gradle b/plugin/build.gradle
index e71685db485..2bc91e51b28 100644
--- a/plugin/build.gradle
+++ b/plugin/build.gradle
@@ -130,7 +130,14 @@ gradle.taskGraph.whenReady { taskGraph ->
 
   if (taskGraph.hasTask(bundlePlugin)) {
     if (project.hasProperty("mlAwsAccessKey") == false && project.hasProperty("mlAwsSecretKey") == false) {
-      setAwsCreds()
+      if (project.gradle.startParameter.isOffline()) {
+        // if the project is offline, then we shouldn't try to contact AWS and instead can just
+        // use a cached, but possibly expired artifact so that the build works...
+        project.ext.mlAwsAccessKey = ""
+        project.ext.mlAwsSecretKey = ""
+      } else {
+        setAwsCreds()
+      }
     }
 
     repositories {