diff --git a/nova/compute/multi_cell_list.py b/nova/compute/multi_cell_list.py
index b5c40e352e36..99f29a41c15a 100644
--- a/nova/compute/multi_cell_list.py
+++ b/nova/compute/multi_cell_list.py
@@ -19,13 +19,17 @@ import six
 
 from oslo_log import log as logging
 
+import nova.conf
 from nova import context
 from nova import exception
+from nova.i18n import _
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 CELL_FAIL_SENTINELS = (context.did_not_respond_sentinel,
                        context.raised_exception_sentinel)
 
+CONF = nova.conf.CONF
+
 
 class RecordSortContext(object):
     def __init__(self, sort_keys, sort_dirs):
@@ -400,6 +404,10 @@ class CrossCellLister(object):
                 return
 
             if item._db_record in CELL_FAIL_SENTINELS:
+                if not CONF.api.list_records_by_skipping_down_cells:
+                    raise exception.NovaException(
+                        _('Cell %s is not responding but configuration '
+                          'indicates that we should fail.') % item.cell_uuid)
                 LOG.warning('Cell %s is not responding and hence is '
                             'being omitted from the results',
                             item.cell_uuid)
diff --git a/nova/conf/api.py b/nova/conf/api.py
index e542f2b25d43..1c0395f43b2b 100644
--- a/nova/conf/api.py
+++ b/nova/conf/api.py
@@ -320,6 +320,14 @@ Related options:
 
 * instance_list_cells_batch_strategy
 * max_limit
+"""),
+    cfg.BoolOpt("list_records_by_skipping_down_cells",
+        default=True,
+        help="""
+When set to False, this will cause the API to return a 500 error if there is an
+infrastructure failure like non-responsive cells. If you want the API to skip
+the down cells and return the results from the up cells set this option to
+True.
 """),
 ]
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_instance_list.py b/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_instance_list.py
index c3be17dbb461..644d1e00bdf2 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_instance_list.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_instance_list.py
@@ -12,10 +12,12 @@
 
 import mock
 from oslo_utils.fixture import uuidsentinel as uuids
+import six
 
 from nova.compute import instance_list
 from nova.compute import multi_cell_list
 from nova import context as nova_context
+from nova import exception
 from nova import objects
 from nova import test
 from nova.tests import fixtures
@@ -185,6 +187,32 @@ class TestInstanceList(test.NoDBTestCase):
         # return the results from the up cell, ignoring the down cell.
         self.assertEqual(uuid_initial, uuid_final)
 
+    @mock.patch('nova.context.scatter_gather_cells')
+    def test_get_instances_by_not_skipping_down_cells(self, mock_sg):
+        self.flags(list_records_by_skipping_down_cells=False, group='api')
+        inst_cell0 = self.insts[uuids.cell0]
+
+        def wrap(thing):
+            return multi_cell_list.RecordWrapper(ctx, self.context, thing)
+
+        ctx = nova_context.RequestContext()
+        instances = [wrap(inst) for inst in inst_cell0]
+
+        # creating one up cell and two down cells
+        ret_val = {}
+        ret_val[uuids.cell0] = instances
+        ret_val[uuids.cell1] = [wrap(nova_context.raised_exception_sentinel)]
+        ret_val[uuids.cell2] = [wrap(nova_context.did_not_respond_sentinel)]
+        mock_sg.return_value = ret_val
+
+        # Raises exception if a cell is down without skipping them
+        # as CONF.api.list_records_by_skipping_down_cells is set to False.
+        # This would in turn result in an API 500 internal error.
+        exp = self.assertRaises(exception.NovaException,
+            instance_list.get_instance_objects_sorted, self.context, {}, None,
+            None, [], None, None)
+        self.assertIn('configuration indicates', six.text_type(exp))
+
     def test_batch_size_fixed(self):
         fixed_size = 200
         self.flags(instance_list_cells_batch_strategy='fixed', group='api')
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/records-list-skip-down-cells-84d995e75c77c041.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/records-list-skip-down-cells-84d995e75c77c041.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8db45ac6931b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/records-list-skip-down-cells-84d995e75c77c041.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+---
+other:
+  - |
+    In case of infrastructure failures like non-responsive cells, prior to
+    `change e3534d`_ we raised an API 500 error. However currently when
+    listing instances or migrations, we skip that cell and display results from
+    the up cells with the aim of increasing availability at the expense of
+    accuracy. If the old behaviour is desired, a new flag called
+    ``CONF.api.list_records_by_skipping_down_cells`` has been added which can
+    be set to False to mimic the old behavior. Both of these potential
+    behaviors will be unified in an upcoming microversion done through the
+    `blueprint handling-down-cell`_  where minimal constructs would be returned
+    for the down cell instances instead of raising 500s or skipping down cells.
+
+    .. _change e3534d : https://review.openstack.org/#/q/I308b494ab07f6936bef94f4c9da45e9473e3534d
+    .. _blueprint handling-down-cell: https://blueprints.launchpad.net/nova/+spec/handling-down-cell