diff --git a/nova/openstack/common/log.py b/nova/openstack/common/log.py
index c95ad3d205ae..cdc439a44294 100644
--- a/nova/openstack/common/log.py
+++ b/nova/openstack/common/log.py
@@ -263,7 +263,12 @@ def mask_password(message, secret="***"):
     >>> mask_password("u'original_password' :   u'aaaaa'")
     "u'original_password' :   u'***'"
     """
-    message = six.text_type(message)
+    try:
+        message = six.text_type(message)
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        # NOTE(jecarey): Temporary fix to handle cases where message is a
+        # byte string.   A better solution will be provided in Kilo.
+        pass
 
     # NOTE(ldbragst): Check to see if anything in message contains any key
     # specified in _SANITIZE_KEYS, if not then just return the message since
diff --git a/nova/openstack/common/strutils.py b/nova/openstack/common/strutils.py
index 3c05cf31f5d2..586419f77d4c 100644
--- a/nova/openstack/common/strutils.py
+++ b/nova/openstack/common/strutils.py
@@ -271,7 +271,12 @@ def mask_password(message, secret="***"):
     >>> mask_password("u'original_password' :   u'aaaaa'")
     "u'original_password' :   u'***'"
     """
-    message = six.text_type(message)
+    try:
+        message = six.text_type(message)
+    except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        # NOTE(jecarey): Temporary fix to handle cases where message is a
+        # byte string.   A better solution will be provided in Kilo.
+        pass
 
     # NOTE(ldbragst): Check to see if anything in message contains any key
     # specified in _SANITIZE_KEYS, if not then just return the message since