diff --git a/fs_s3fs/opener.py b/fs_s3fs/opener.py
index 16bbaa2..570ba7c 100644
--- a/fs_s3fs/opener.py
+++ b/fs_s3fs/opener.py
@@ -22,12 +22,17 @@ def open_fs(self, fs_url, parse_result, writeable, create, cwd):
             raise OpenerError(
                 "invalid bucket name in '{}'".format(fs_url)
             )
-        strict = parse_result.params.get('strict', 'y') == 'y'
+        strict = (
+            parse_result.params['strict'] == '1'
+            if 'strict' in parse_result.params
+            else True
+        )
         s3fs = S3FS(
             bucket_name,
             dir_path=dir_path or '/',
             aws_access_key_id=parse_result.username or None,
             aws_secret_access_key=parse_result.password or None,
-            endpoint_url=parse_result.params.get('endpoint_url', None)
+            endpoint_url=parse_result.params.get('endpoint_url', None),
+            strict=strict
         )
         return s3fs