diff --git a/nova/api/openstack/compute/server_groups.py b/nova/api/openstack/compute/server_groups.py
index fc65caa8c6..69ad945a25 100644
--- a/nova/api/openstack/compute/server_groups.py
+++ b/nova/api/openstack/compute/server_groups.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 """The Server Group API Extension."""
 
 import collections
+import itertools
 
 from oslo_log import log as logging
 import webob
@@ -87,7 +88,16 @@ def _should_enable_custom_max_server_rules(context, rules):
 class ServerGroupController(wsgi.Controller):
     """The Server group API controller for the OpenStack API."""
 
-    def _format_server_group(self, context, group, req):
+    def _format_server_group(self, context, group, req,
+                             not_deleted_inst_uuids=None):
+        """Format ServerGroup according to API version.
+
+        Displays only not-deleted members.
+
+        :param:not_deleted_inst_uuids: Pre-built set of instance-uuids for
+                                       multiple server-groups that are found to
+                                       be not deleted.
+        """
         # the id field has its value as the uuid of the server group
         # There is no 'uuid' key in server_group seen by clients.
         # In addition, clients see policies as a ["policy-name"] list;
@@ -106,7 +116,12 @@ class ServerGroupController(wsgi.Controller):
         members = []
         if group.members:
             # Display the instances that are not deleted.
-            members = _get_not_deleted(context, group.members)
+            if not_deleted_inst_uuids is not None:
+                # short-cut if we already pre-built a list of not deleted
+                # instances to be more efficient
+                members = list(set(group.members) & not_deleted_inst_uuids)
+            else:
+                members = _get_not_deleted(context, group.members)
         server_group['members'] = members
         # Add project id information to the response data for
         # API version v2.13
@@ -181,7 +196,11 @@ class ServerGroupController(wsgi.Controller):
             sgs = objects.InstanceGroupList.get_by_project_id(
                     context, project_id)
         limited_list = common.limited(sgs.objects, req)
-        result = [self._format_server_group(context, group, req)
+
+        all_members = list(itertools.chain.from_iterable(
+            sg.members for sg in limited_list if sg.members))
+        not_deleted = set(_get_not_deleted(context, all_members))
+        result = [self._format_server_group(context, group, req, not_deleted)
                   for group in limited_list]
         return {'server_groups': result}
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_server_groups.py b/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_server_groups.py
index 5c4c909576..d0a0e82bd9 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_server_groups.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_server_groups.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #    under the License.
 
 import copy
+import itertools
 from unittest import mock
 
 from oslo_utils.fixture import uuidsentinel
@@ -389,6 +390,37 @@ class ServerGroupTestV21(test.NoDBTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(2, len(result_members))
         self.assertIn(instances[0].uuid, result_members)
 
+    def test_display_active_members_only_when_listing(self):
+        ctx = context.RequestContext('fake_user', fakes.FAKE_PROJECT_ID,
+                                     roles=['member', 'reader'])
+        (ig1_uuid, ig1_instances, ig1_members) = \
+                self._create_groups_and_instances(ctx)
+        (ig2_uuid, ig2_instances, ig2_members) = \
+                self._create_groups_and_instances(ctx)
+
+        # delete an instance per ig
+        for instance in (ig1_instances[1], ig2_instances[0]):
+            im = objects.InstanceMapping.get_by_instance_uuid(
+                ctx, instance.uuid)
+            with context.target_cell(ctx, im.cell_mapping) as cctxt:
+                instance._context = cctxt
+                instance.destroy()
+            # check that the instance does not exist
+            self.assertRaises(exception.InstanceNotFound,
+                              objects.Instance.get_by_uuid,
+                              ctx, instance.uuid)
+
+        res_dict = self.controller.index(self.reader_req)
+        result_members = sorted(itertools.chain.from_iterable(
+            sg['members'] for sg in res_dict['server_groups']))
+
+        # check that only the active instances are displayed
+        self.assertEqual(4, len(result_members))
+        expected_members = sorted([
+            ig1_instances[0].uuid, ig1_instances[2].uuid,
+            ig2_instances[1].uuid, ig2_instances[2].uuid])
+        self.assertEqual(expected_members, result_members)
+
     def test_display_members_rbac_default(self):
         ctx = context.RequestContext('fake_user', fakes.FAKE_PROJECT_ID)
         ig_uuid = self._create_groups_and_instances(ctx)[0]
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/bug-2122109-dac145799fc8f58c.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/bug-2122109-dac145799fc8f58c.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f69c4f227a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/bug-2122109-dac145799fc8f58c.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    `Bug #2122109`_: Fix API performance when getting multiple server groups.
+    We now pre-fetch the not-deleted members of all requested server groups in
+    a single query per cell instead of executing a query per server group per
+    cell.
+
+    .. _Bug #2122109: https://launchpad.net/bugs/2122109