diff --git a/nova/objects/base.py b/nova/objects/base.py
index b0c98e055986..cf938ab24ef5 100644
--- a/nova/objects/base.py
+++ b/nova/objects/base.py
@@ -71,6 +71,16 @@ class NovaObject(ovoo_base.VersionedObject):
     OBJ_SERIAL_NAMESPACE = 'nova_object'
     OBJ_PROJECT_NAMESPACE = 'nova'
 
+    # NOTE(ndipanov): This is nova-specific
+    @staticmethod
+    def should_migrate_data():
+        """A check that can be used to inhibit online migration behavior
+
+        This is usually used to check if all services that will be accessing
+        the db directly are ready for the new format.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
     # NOTE(danms): This has some minor change between the nova and o.vo
     # version, so avoid inheriting it for the moment so we can make that
     # transition separately for clarity.
diff --git a/nova/objects/pci_device.py b/nova/objects/pci_device.py
index edcb2d87d9c0..5dbc949be00d 100644
--- a/nova/objects/pci_device.py
+++ b/nova/objects/pci_device.py
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ class PciDevice(base.NovaPersistentObject, base.NovaObject):
     }
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _migrate_parent_addr():
+    def should_migrate_data():
         # NOTE(ndipanov): Only migrate parent_addr if all services are up to at
         # least version 4 - this should only ever be called from save()
         services = ('conductor', 'api')
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ class PciDevice(base.NovaPersistentObject, base.NovaObject):
                                   self.address)
         elif self.status != fields.PciDeviceStatus.DELETED:
             updates = self.obj_get_changes()
-            if not self._migrate_parent_addr():
+            if not self.should_migrate_data():
                 # NOTE(ndipanov): If we are not migrating data yet, make sure
                 # that any changes to parent_addr are also in the old location
                 # in extra_info
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_manager.py b/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_manager.py
index 553e9aead07a..665d20920ee4 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_manager.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/pci/test_manager.py
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ class PciDevTrackerTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
                               dev in self.tracker.pci_devs]),
                          set(['v', 'v1']))
 
-    @mock.patch.object(objects.PciDevice, '_migrate_parent_addr',
+    @mock.patch.object(objects.PciDevice, 'should_migrate_data',
                        return_value=False)
     def test_save(self, migrate_mock):
         self.stub_out(