diff --git a/ironic_inspector/process.py b/ironic_inspector/process.py
index 325ed820e..83b7ddccd 100644
--- a/ironic_inspector/process.py
+++ b/ironic_inspector/process.py
@@ -234,7 +234,8 @@ def process(introspection_data):
                                 'error': exc}
         node_info.finished(error=msg)
         _store_logs(introspection_data, node_info)
-        raise utils.Error(msg, node_info=node_info, data=introspection_data)
+        raise utils.Error(msg, node_info=node_info, data=introspection_data,
+                          code=500)
 
     if CONF.processing.always_store_ramdisk_logs:
         _store_logs(introspection_data, node_info)
diff --git a/ironic_inspector/test/unit/test_process.py b/ironic_inspector/test/unit/test_process.py
index 6b90b4393..befc4ed01 100644
--- a/ironic_inspector/test/unit/test_process.py
+++ b/ironic_inspector/test/unit/test_process.py
@@ -134,9 +134,11 @@ class TestProcess(BaseProcessTest):
     def test_unexpected_exception(self):
         self.process_mock.side_effect = RuntimeError('boom')
 
-        self.assertRaisesRegexp(utils.Error, 'Unexpected exception',
-                                process.process, self.data)
+        with self.assertRaisesRegexp(utils.Error,
+                                     'Unexpected exception') as ctx:
+            process.process(self.data)
 
+        self.assertEqual(500, ctx.exception.http_code)
         self.node_info.finished.assert_called_once_with(
             error='Unexpected exception RuntimeError during processing: boom')
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/continue-http-500-62f33d425aade9d7.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/continue-http-500-62f33d425aade9d7.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d5ba268a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/continue-http-500-62f33d425aade9d7.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - Fixed "/v1/continue" to return HTTP 500 on unexpected exceptions, not
+    HTTP 400.