diff --git a/nova/api/openstack/placement/handlers/inventory.py b/nova/api/openstack/placement/handlers/inventory.py
index 93637f1d22b8..ad3a8ba7c7c9 100644
--- a/nova/api/openstack/placement/handlers/inventory.py
+++ b/nova/api/openstack/placement/handlers/inventory.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ from nova.api.openstack.placement import microversion
 from nova.api.openstack.placement.schemas import inventory as schema
 from nova.api.openstack.placement import util
 from nova.api.openstack.placement import wsgi_wrapper
-from nova import db
+from nova.db import constants as db_const
 from nova import exception
 from nova.i18n import _
 from nova.objects import resource_provider as rp_obj
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ OUTPUT_INVENTORY_FIELDS = [
 INVENTORY_DEFAULTS = {
     'reserved': 0,
     'min_unit': 1,
-    'max_unit': db.MAX_INT,
+    'max_unit': db_const.MAX_INT,
     'step_size': 1,
     'allocation_ratio': 1.0
 }
diff --git a/nova/api/openstack/placement/schemas/inventory.py b/nova/api/openstack/placement/schemas/inventory.py
index 89d4232f514f..78f1c45d340d 100644
--- a/nova/api/openstack/placement/schemas/inventory.py
+++ b/nova/api/openstack/placement/schemas/inventory.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 import copy
 
-from nova import db
+from nova.db import constants as db_const
 
 
 RESOURCE_CLASS_IDENTIFIER = "^[A-Z0-9_]+$"
@@ -25,32 +25,32 @@ BASE_INVENTORY_SCHEMA = {
         },
         "total": {
             "type": "integer",
-            "maximum": db.MAX_INT,
+            "maximum": db_const.MAX_INT,
             "minimum": 1,
         },
         "reserved": {
             "type": "integer",
-            "maximum": db.MAX_INT,
+            "maximum": db_const.MAX_INT,
             "minimum": 0,
         },
         "min_unit": {
             "type": "integer",
-            "maximum": db.MAX_INT,
+            "maximum": db_const.MAX_INT,
             "minimum": 1
         },
         "max_unit": {
             "type": "integer",
-            "maximum": db.MAX_INT,
+            "maximum": db_const.MAX_INT,
             "minimum": 1
         },
         "step_size": {
             "type": "integer",
-            "maximum": db.MAX_INT,
+            "maximum": db_const.MAX_INT,
             "minimum": 1
         },
         "allocation_ratio": {
             "type": "number",
-            "maximum": db.SQL_SP_FLOAT_MAX
+            "maximum": db_const.SQL_SP_FLOAT_MAX
         },
     },
     "required": [
diff --git a/nova/db/api.py b/nova/db/api.py
index 68e21c069536..8f07f4049b55 100644
--- a/nova/db/api.py
+++ b/nova/db/api.py
@@ -32,9 +32,14 @@ from oslo_log import log as logging
 
 from nova.cells import rpcapi as cells_rpcapi
 import nova.conf
+from nova.db import constants
 
 
 CONF = nova.conf.CONF
+# NOTE(cdent): These constants are re-defined in this module to preserve
+# existing references to them.
+MAX_INT = constants.MAX_INT
+SQL_SP_FLOAT_MAX = constants.SQL_SP_FLOAT_MAX
 
 _BACKEND_MAPPING = {'sqlalchemy': 'nova.db.sqlalchemy.api'}
 
@@ -43,17 +48,6 @@ IMPL = concurrency.TpoolDbapiWrapper(CONF, backend_mapping=_BACKEND_MAPPING)
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-# The maximum value a signed INT type may have
-MAX_INT = 0x7FFFFFFF
-
-# NOTE(dosaboy): This is supposed to represent the maximum value that we can
-# place into a SQL single precision float so that we can check whether values
-# are oversize. Postgres and MySQL both define this as their max whereas Sqlite
-# uses dynamic typing so this would not apply. Different dbs react in different
-# ways to oversize values e.g. postgres will raise an exception while mysql
-# will round off the value. Nevertheless we may still want to know prior to
-# insert whether the value is oversize or not.
-SQL_SP_FLOAT_MAX = 3.40282e+38
 
 ###################
 
diff --git a/nova/db/constants.py b/nova/db/constants.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a082fba4877b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/db/constants.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+"""Useful db-related constants. In their own file so they can be imported
+cleanly."""
+
+# The maximum value a signed INT type may have
+MAX_INT = 0x7FFFFFFF
+
+# NOTE(dosaboy): This is supposed to represent the maximum value that we can
+# place into a SQL single precision float so that we can check whether values
+# are oversize. Postgres and MySQL both define this as their max whereas Sqlite
+# uses dynamic typing so this would not apply. Different dbs react in different
+# ways to oversize values e.g. postgres will raise an exception while mysql
+# will round off the value. Nevertheless we may still want to know prior to
+# insert whether the value is oversize or not.
+SQL_SP_FLOAT_MAX = 3.40282e+38