diff --git a/test/src/unit-vfs.cc b/test/src/unit-vfs.cc
index b1c9b8b1f54..5d41f612026 100644
--- a/test/src/unit-vfs.cc
+++ b/test/src/unit-vfs.cc
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@
 #include <azure/storage/blobs.hpp>
 #include "tiledb/sm/filesystem/azure.h"
 #endif
+#ifdef HAVE_GCS
+#include <google/cloud/internal/credentials_impl.h>
+#include <google/cloud/storage/client.h>
+#include "tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.h"
+#endif
 #include "test/support/src/vfs_helpers.h"
 #include "tiledb/sm/filesystem/vfs.h"
 #include "tiledb/sm/global_state/unit_test_config.h"
@@ -738,3 +743,44 @@ TEST_CASE("Validate vfs.s3.custom_headers.*", "[s3][custom-headers]") {
   REQUIRE_THROWS_WITH(s3.flush_object(uri), matcher);
 }
 #endif
+
+#ifdef HAVE_GCS
+TEST_CASE(
+    "Validate GCS service account impersonation", "[gcs][impersonation]") {
+  ThreadPool thread_pool(2);
+  Config cfg = set_config_params(true);
+  GCS gcs;
+  std::string impersonate_service_account, target_service_account;
+  std::vector<std::string> delegates;
+
+  SECTION("Simple") {
+    impersonate_service_account = "account1";
+    target_service_account = "account1";
+    delegates = {};
+  }
+
+  SECTION("Nested") {
+    impersonate_service_account = "account1,account2,account3";
+    target_service_account = "account3";
+    delegates = {"account1", "account2"};
+  }
+
+  require_tiledb_ok(cfg.set(
+      "vfs.gcs.impersonate_service_account", impersonate_service_account));
+
+  require_tiledb_ok(gcs.init(cfg, &thread_pool));
+
+  auto credentials = gcs.make_credentials({});
+
+  // We are using an internal class only for inspection purposes.
+  auto impersonate_credentials =
+      dynamic_cast<google::cloud::internal::ImpersonateServiceAccountConfig*>(
+          credentials.get());
+
+  REQUIRE(impersonate_credentials != nullptr);
+  REQUIRE(
+      impersonate_credentials->target_service_account() ==
+      target_service_account);
+  REQUIRE(impersonate_credentials->delegates() == delegates);
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.cc b/tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.cc
index 2a98faec4b0..48db39a0844 100644
--- a/tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.cc
+++ b/tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.cc
@@ -180,6 +180,17 @@ static shared_ptr<google::cloud::Credentials> apply_impersonation(
       std::move(credentials), std::move(service_accounts), std::move(options));
 }
 
+std::shared_ptr<google::cloud::Credentials> GCS::make_credentials(
+    const google::cloud::Options& options) const {
+  shared_ptr<google::cloud::Credentials> creds = nullptr;
+  if (!endpoint_.empty() || getenv("CLOUD_STORAGE_EMULATOR_ENDPOINT")) {
+    creds = google::cloud::MakeInsecureCredentials();
+  } else {
+    creds = google::cloud::MakeGoogleDefaultCredentials(options);
+  }
+  return apply_impersonation(creds, impersonate_service_account_, options);
+}
+
 Status GCS::init_client() const {
   assert(state_ == State::INITIALIZED);
 
@@ -201,7 +212,7 @@ Status GCS::init_client() const {
   }
 
   // Note that the order here is *extremely important*
-  // We must call MakeGoogleDefaultCredentials *with* a ca_options
+  // We must call make_credentials *with* a ca_options
   // argument, or else the Curl handle pool will be default-initialized
   // with no root dir (CURLOPT_CAINFO), defaulting to build host path.
   // Later initializations of ClientOptions/Client with the ca_options
@@ -211,16 +222,9 @@ Status GCS::init_client() const {
   // Creates the client using the credentials file pointed to by the
   // env variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
   try {
-    shared_ptr<google::cloud::Credentials> creds = nullptr;
-    if (!endpoint_.empty() || getenv("CLOUD_STORAGE_EMULATOR_ENDPOINT")) {
-      creds = google::cloud::MakeInsecureCredentials();
-    } else {
-      creds = google::cloud::MakeGoogleDefaultCredentials(ca_options);
-    }
-    creds =
-        apply_impersonation(creds, impersonate_service_account_, ca_options);
     auto client_options = ca_options;
-    client_options.set<google::cloud::UnifiedCredentialsOption>(creds);
+    client_options.set<google::cloud::UnifiedCredentialsOption>(
+        make_credentials(ca_options));
     if (!endpoint_.empty()) {
       client_options.set<google::cloud::storage::RestEndpointOption>(endpoint_);
     }
diff --git a/tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.h b/tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.h
index 6d83b8d0fcb..9a2b83bbaf4 100644
--- a/tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.h
+++ b/tiledb/sm/filesystem/gcs.h
@@ -49,11 +49,17 @@
 
 using namespace tiledb::common;
 
-namespace google::cloud::storage {
+namespace google::cloud {
+GOOGLE_CLOUD_CPP_INLINE_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
+class Credentials;
+class Options;
+GOOGLE_CLOUD_CPP_INLINE_NAMESPACE_END
+namespace storage {
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_CPP_INLINE_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 class Client;
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_CPP_INLINE_NAMESPACE_END
-}  // namespace google::cloud::storage
+}  // namespace storage
+}  // namespace google::cloud
 
 namespace tiledb {
 
@@ -309,6 +315,17 @@ class GCS {
    */
   Status flush_object(const URI& uri);
 
+  /**
+   * Creates a GCS credentials object.
+   *
+   * This method is intended to be used by testing code only.
+   *
+   * @param options Options to configure the credentials.
+   * @return shared pointer to credentials
+   */
+  std::shared_ptr<google::cloud::Credentials> make_credentials(
+      const google::cloud::Options& options) const;
+
  private:
   /* ********************************* */
   /*         PRIVATE DATATYPES         */