diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/ironic/test_driver.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/ironic/test_driver.py
index dd608f2f3030..3330ddabf598 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/ironic/test_driver.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/ironic/test_driver.py
@@ -2077,6 +2077,17 @@ class IronicDriverTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         mock_node.list_volume_connectors.assert_called_once_with(
             node_uuid, detail=True)
 
+    @mock.patch.object(FAKE_CLIENT, 'node')
+    @mock.patch.object(ironic_driver.LOG, 'error')
+    def test_ironicclient_bad_response(self, mock_error, mock_node):
+        mock_node.list.side_effect = [["node1", "node2"], Exception()]
+        result = self.driver._get_node_list()
+        mock_error.assert_not_called()
+        self.assertEqual(["node1", "node2"], result)
+        result = self.driver._get_node_list()
+        mock_error.assert_called_once()
+        self.assertEqual([], result)
+
 
 class IronicDriverSyncTestCase(IronicDriverTestCase):
 
diff --git a/nova/virt/ironic/driver.py b/nova/virt/ironic/driver.py
index ec30635d036b..940652e59426 100644
--- a/nova/virt/ironic/driver.py
+++ b/nova/virt/ironic/driver.py
@@ -589,10 +589,15 @@ class IronicDriver(virt_driver.ComputeDriver):
         :returns: a list of raw node from ironic
 
         """
+        node_list = []
         try:
             node_list = self.ironicclient.call("node.list", **kwargs)
-        except exception.NovaException:
-            node_list = []
+        except exception.NovaException as e:
+            LOG.error("Failed to get the list of nodes from the Ironic "
+                      "inventory. Error: %s", e)
+        except Exception as e:
+            LOG.error("An unknown error has occurred when trying to get the "
+                      "list of nodes from the Ironic inventory. Error: %s", e)
         return node_list
 
     def list_instances(self):