diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_driver.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_driver.py
index c81fb832732e..f5506eb281b4 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_driver.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_driver.py
@@ -29894,7 +29894,7 @@ class LibvirtVolumeSnapshotTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
             "/var/lib/nova/instances/%s/snap.img" % instance.uuid)
         mock_execute.assert_called_once_with(
             'qemu-img', 'rebase',
-            '-b', '/var/lib/nova/instances/%s/snap.img' % instance.uuid,
+            '-b', 'snap.img',
             '-F', 'fake_fmt',
             '/var/lib/nova/instances/%s/disk1_file' % instance.uuid)
 
diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
index 3fd028993f01..040c2a6adcfe 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
@@ -3820,17 +3820,24 @@ class LibvirtDriver(driver.ComputeDriver):
             # If the rebased image is going to have a backing file then
             # explicitly set the backing file format to avoid any security
             # concerns related to file format auto detection.
-            if os.path.isabs(rebase_base):
-                backing_file = rebase_base
+            backing_file = rebase_base
+
+            # We will need the absolute path to the backing file in order to
+            # call images.qemu_img_info() as it checks for path existence.
+            # We still want to do the rebase itself with a relative path if a
+            # relative path was given, so that Cinder will also be able to
+            # successfully reference the backing file in its environment.
+            if os.path.isabs(backing_file):
+                backing_file_abs = backing_file
             else:
                 # this is a probably a volume snapshot case where the
                 # rebase_base is relative. See bug
                 # https://bugs.launchpad.net/nova/+bug/1885528
                 backing_file_name = os.path.basename(rebase_base)
                 volume_path = os.path.dirname(source_path)
-                backing_file = os.path.join(volume_path, backing_file_name)
+                backing_file_abs = os.path.join(volume_path, backing_file_name)
 
-            b_file_fmt = images.qemu_img_info(backing_file).file_format
+            b_file_fmt = images.qemu_img_info(backing_file_abs).file_format
             qemu_img_extra_arg = ['-F', b_file_fmt]
 
         qemu_img_extra_arg.append(source_path)