diff --git a/nova/context.py b/nova/context.py
index f290a02be7fb..624b908e976f 100644
--- a/nova/context.py
+++ b/nova/context.py
@@ -440,7 +440,9 @@ def scatter_gather_cells(context, cell_mappings, timeout, fn, *args, **kwargs):
             with target_cell(context, cell_mapping) as cctxt:
                 result = fn(cctxt, *args, **kwargs)
         except Exception as e:
-            LOG.exception('Error gathering result from cell %s', cell_uuid)
+            # Only log the exception traceback for non-nova exceptions.
+            if not isinstance(e, exception.NovaException):
+                LOG.exception('Error gathering result from cell %s', cell_uuid)
             result = e.__class__(e.args)
         # The queue is already synchronized.
         queue.put((cell_uuid, result))
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/test_context.py b/nova/tests/unit/test_context.py
index b40d95bf5b11..4827757a40c6 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/test_context.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/test_context.py
@@ -430,9 +430,23 @@ class ContextTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
             ctxt, mappings, 30, objects.InstanceList.get_by_filters)
         self.assertEqual(2, len(results))
         self.assertIn(mock.sentinel.instances, results.values())
-        isinstance(results.values(), Exception)
+        self.assertIsInstance(results[mapping1.uuid], Exception)
+        # non-NovaException gets logged
         self.assertTrue(mock_log_exception.called)
 
+        # Now run it again with a NovaException to see it's not logged.
+        mock_log_exception.reset_mock()
+        mock_get_inst.side_effect = [mock.sentinel.instances,
+                                     exception.NotFound()]
+
+        results = context.scatter_gather_cells(
+            ctxt, mappings, 30, objects.InstanceList.get_by_filters)
+        self.assertEqual(2, len(results))
+        self.assertIn(mock.sentinel.instances, results.values())
+        self.assertIsInstance(results[mapping1.uuid], exception.NovaException)
+        # NovaExceptions are not logged, the caller should handle them.
+        mock_log_exception.assert_not_called()
+
     @mock.patch('nova.context.scatter_gather_cells')
     @mock.patch('nova.objects.CellMappingList.get_all')
     def test_scatter_gather_all_cells(self, mock_get_all, mock_scatter):