diff --git a/glanceclient/tests/unit/v2/test_images.py b/glanceclient/tests/unit/v2/test_images.py
index 6fda7ae3..15732280 100644
--- a/glanceclient/tests/unit/v2/test_images.py
+++ b/glanceclient/tests/unit/v2/test_images.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #    under the License.
 
 import errno
-
+import mock
 import testtools
 
 from glanceclient import exc
@@ -866,6 +866,12 @@ class TestController(testtools.TestCase):
         body = ''.join([b for b in body])
         self.assertEqual('CCC', body)
 
+    def test_download_no_data(self):
+        resp = utils.FakeResponse(headers={}, status_code=204)
+        self.controller.http_client.get = mock.Mock(return_value=(resp, None))
+        body = self.controller.data('image_id')
+        self.assertEqual(None, body)
+
     def test_update_replace_prop(self):
         image_id = '3a4560a1-e585-443e-9b39-553b46ec92d1'
         params = {'name': 'pong'}
diff --git a/glanceclient/v2/images.py b/glanceclient/v2/images.py
index 4fdcea2d..053cc641 100644
--- a/glanceclient/v2/images.py
+++ b/glanceclient/v2/images.py
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@
 #    under the License.
 
 import json
-
 from oslo_utils import encodeutils
+from requests import codes
 import six
 from six.moves.urllib import parse
 import warlock
@@ -189,9 +189,13 @@ class Controller(object):
 
         :param image_id:    ID of the image to download.
         :param do_checksum: Enable/disable checksum validation.
+        :returns: An interable body or None
         """
         url = '/v2/images/%s/file' % image_id
         resp, body = self.http_client.get(url)
+        if resp.status_code == codes.no_content:
+            return None
+
         checksum = resp.headers.get('content-md5', None)
         content_length = int(resp.headers.get('content-length', 0))
 
diff --git a/glanceclient/v2/shell.py b/glanceclient/v2/shell.py
index 7be90ae9..99ca3974 100644
--- a/glanceclient/v2/shell.py
+++ b/glanceclient/v2/shell.py
@@ -276,6 +276,10 @@ def do_explain(gc, args):
 def do_image_download(gc, args):
     """Download a specific image."""
     body = gc.images.data(args.id)
+    if body is None:
+        msg = ('Image %s has no data.' % args.id)
+        utils.exit(msg)
+
     if args.progress:
         body = progressbar.VerboseIteratorWrapper(body, len(body))
     if not (sys.stdout.isatty() and args.file is None):