diff --git a/neutron/common/config.py b/neutron/common/config.py
index 4f0eb47bf0..fc7058a10d 100644
--- a/neutron/common/config.py
+++ b/neutron/common/config.py
@@ -132,12 +132,15 @@ def load_paste_app(app_name):
     """Builds and returns a WSGI app from a paste config file.
 
     :param app_name: Name of the application to load
-    :raises RuntimeError when config file cannot be located or application
-            cannot be loaded from config file
+    :raises ConfigFilesNotFoundError when config file cannot be located
+    :raises RuntimeError when application cannot be loaded from config file
     """
 
-    config_path = os.path.abspath(cfg.CONF.find_file(
-        cfg.CONF.api_paste_config))
+    config_path = cfg.CONF.find_file(cfg.CONF.api_paste_config)
+    if not config_path:
+        raise cfg.ConfigFilesNotFoundError(
+            config_files=[cfg.CONF.api_paste_config])
+    config_path = os.path.abspath(config_path)
     LOG.info(_("Config paste file: %s"), config_path)
 
     try:
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/test_config.py b/neutron/tests/unit/test_config.py
index cb773ed64d..1b1e9929a8 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/test_config.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/test_config.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 import os
 
+import mock
 from oslo.config import cfg
 
 from neutron.common import config  # noqa
@@ -44,3 +45,11 @@ class ConfigurationTest(base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(86400, cfg.CONF.dhcp_lease_duration)
         self.assertFalse(cfg.CONF.allow_overlapping_ips)
         self.assertEqual('neutron', cfg.CONF.control_exchange)
+
+    def test_load_paste_app_not_found(self):
+        self.config(api_paste_config='no_such_file.conf')
+        with mock.patch.object(cfg.CONF, 'find_file', return_value=None) as ff:
+            e = self.assertRaises(cfg.ConfigFilesNotFoundError,
+                                  config.load_paste_app, 'app')
+            ff.assert_called_once_with('no_such_file.conf')
+            self.assertEqual(['no_such_file.conf'], e.config_files)