diff --git a/zun/common/nova.py b/zun/common/nova.py
index b2f7cc33f..2ab521f55 100644
--- a/zun/common/nova.py
+++ b/zun/common/nova.py
@@ -190,6 +190,12 @@ class NovaClient(object):
             self.client().servers.delete(server_id)
             return server_id
 
+    def stop_server(self, server):
+        server_id = self.get_server_id(server, raise_on_error=False)
+        if server_id:
+            self.client().servers.stop(server_id)
+            return server_id
+
     def check_delete_server_complete(self, server_id):
         """Wait for server to disappear from Nova."""
         try:
diff --git a/zun/compute/manager.py b/zun/compute/manager.py
index 3fbec9ac3..632b2aece 100644
--- a/zun/compute/manager.py
+++ b/zun/compute/manager.py
@@ -73,6 +73,13 @@ class Manager(object):
                                                       reraise=True)
         return self._do_container_start(context, created_container)
 
+    def _do_sandbox_cleanup(self, context, sandbox_id):
+        try:
+            self.driver.delete_sandbox(context, sandbox_id)
+        except Exception as e:
+            LOG.error(_LE("Error occured while deleting sandbox: %s"),
+                      six.text_type(e))
+
     def _do_container_create(self, context, container, reraise=False):
         LOG.debug('Creating container...', context=context,
                   container=container)
@@ -105,6 +112,7 @@ class Manager(object):
         except exception.ImageNotFound as e:
             with excutils.save_and_reraise_exception(reraise=reraise):
                 LOG.error(six.text_type(e))
+                self._do_sandbox_cleanup(context, sandbox_id)
                 self._fail_container(container, six.text_type(e))
             return
         except exception.DockerError as e:
@@ -112,12 +120,14 @@ class Manager(object):
                 LOG.error(_LE(
                     "Error occured while calling docker image API: %s"),
                     six.text_type(e))
+                self._do_sandbox_cleanup(context, sandbox_id)
                 self._fail_container(container, six.text_type(e))
             return
         except Exception as e:
             with excutils.save_and_reraise_exception(reraise=reraise):
                 LOG.exception(_LE("Unexpected exception: %s"),
                               six.text_type(e))
+                self._do_sandbox_cleanup(context, sandbox_id)
                 self._fail_container(container, six.text_type(e))
             return
 
@@ -135,12 +145,14 @@ class Manager(object):
                 LOG.error(_LE(
                     "Error occured while calling docker create API: %s"),
                     six.text_type(e))
+                self._do_sandbox_cleanup(context, sandbox_id)
                 self._fail_container(container, six.text_type(e))
             return
         except Exception as e:
             with excutils.save_and_reraise_exception(reraise=reraise):
                 LOG.exception(_LE("Unexpected exception: %s"),
                               six.text_type(e))
+                self._do_sandbox_cleanup(context, sandbox_id)
                 self._fail_container(container, six.text_type(e))
             return
 
diff --git a/zun/container/docker/driver.py b/zun/container/docker/driver.py
index 50b96a03a..7aeb22994 100644
--- a/zun/container/docker/driver.py
+++ b/zun/container/docker/driver.py
@@ -230,6 +230,10 @@ class DockerDriver(driver.ContainerDriver):
         with docker_utils.docker_client() as docker:
             docker.remove_container(sandbox_id, force=True)
 
+    def stop_sandbox(self, context, sandbox_id):
+        with docker_utils.docker_client() as docker:
+            docker.stop(sandbox_id)
+
     def get_sandbox_id(self, container):
         if container.meta:
             return container.meta.get('sandbox_id', None)
@@ -301,6 +305,15 @@ class NovaDockerDriver(DockerDriver):
         server_id = novaclient.delete_server(server_name)
         self._ensure_deleted(novaclient, server_id)
 
+    def stop_sandbox(self, context, sandbox_id):
+        novaclient = nova.NovaClient(context)
+        server_name = self._find_server_by_container_id(sandbox_id)
+        if not server_name:
+            LOG.warning(_LW("Cannot find server name for sandbox %s") %
+                        sandbox_id)
+            return
+        novaclient.stop_server(server_name)
+
     def _ensure_deleted(self, novaclient, server_id, timeout=300):
         '''Wait until the Nova instance to be deleted.'''
         def _check_delete_complete():
diff --git a/zun/container/driver.py b/zun/container/driver.py
index 7dd5d2469..dd3a1d657 100644
--- a/zun/container/driver.py
+++ b/zun/container/driver.py
@@ -114,6 +114,12 @@ class ContainerDriver(object):
         """Delete a sandbox."""
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
+    # Note: This is not currently used, but
+    # may be used later
+    def stop_sandbox(self, context, sandbox_id):
+        """Stop a sandbox."""
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
     def get_sandbox_id(self, container):
         """Retrieve sandbox ID."""
         raise NotImplementedError()