diff --git a/nova/cmd/manage.py b/nova/cmd/manage.py
index 5cd539d011..965d581acd 100644
--- a/nova/cmd/manage.py
+++ b/nova/cmd/manage.py
@@ -832,16 +832,20 @@ class DbCommands(object):
     def archive_deleted_rows(self, max_rows, verbose=False):
         """Move up to max_rows deleted rows from production tables to shadow
         tables.
+
+        Returns 0 if nothing was archived, 1 if some number of rows were
+        archived, 2 if max_rows is invalid. If automating, this should be
+        run continuously while the result is 1, stopping at 0.
         """
         if max_rows is not None:
             max_rows = int(max_rows)
             if max_rows < 0:
                 print(_("Must supply a positive value for max_rows"))
-                return(1)
+                return(2)
             if max_rows > db.MAX_INT:
                 print(_('max rows must be <= %(max_value)d') %
                       {'max_value': db.MAX_INT})
-                return(1)
+                return(2)
         table_to_rows_archived = db.archive_deleted_rows(max_rows)
         if verbose:
             if table_to_rows_archived:
@@ -849,6 +853,8 @@ class DbCommands(object):
                                  dict_value=_('Number of Rows Archived'))
             else:
                 print(_('Nothing was archived.'))
+        # NOTE(danms): Return nonzero if we archived something
+        return int(bool(table_to_rows_archived))
 
     @args('--delete', action='store_true', dest='delete',
           help='If specified, automatically delete any records found where '
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/test_nova_manage.py b/nova/tests/unit/test_nova_manage.py
index c42ef9b829..7dcafd581f 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/test_nova_manage.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/test_nova_manage.py
@@ -469,16 +469,16 @@ class DBCommandsTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         self.commands = manage.DbCommands()
 
     def test_archive_deleted_rows_negative(self):
-        self.assertEqual(1, self.commands.archive_deleted_rows(-1))
+        self.assertEqual(2, self.commands.archive_deleted_rows(-1))
 
     def test_archive_deleted_rows_large_number(self):
         large_number = '1' * 100
-        self.assertEqual(1, self.commands.archive_deleted_rows(large_number))
+        self.assertEqual(2, self.commands.archive_deleted_rows(large_number))
 
     @mock.patch.object(db, 'archive_deleted_rows',
                        return_value=dict(instances=10, consoles=5))
     def _test_archive_deleted_rows(self, mock_db_archive, verbose=False):
-        self.commands.archive_deleted_rows(20, verbose=verbose)
+        result = self.commands.archive_deleted_rows(20, verbose=verbose)
         mock_db_archive.assert_called_once_with(20)
         output = self.output.getvalue()
         if verbose:
@@ -493,6 +493,7 @@ class DBCommandsTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
             self.assertEqual(expected, output)
         else:
             self.assertEqual(0, len(output))
+        self.assertEqual(1, result)
 
     def test_archive_deleted_rows(self):
         # Tests that we don't show any table output (not verbose).
@@ -504,10 +505,11 @@ class DBCommandsTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
     @mock.patch.object(db, 'archive_deleted_rows', return_value={})
     def test_archive_deleted_rows_verbose_no_results(self, mock_db_archive):
-        self.commands.archive_deleted_rows(20, verbose=True)
+        result = self.commands.archive_deleted_rows(20, verbose=True)
         mock_db_archive.assert_called_once_with(20)
         output = self.output.getvalue()
         self.assertIn('Nothing was archived.', output)
+        self.assertEqual(0, result)
 
     @mock.patch.object(migration, 'db_null_instance_uuid_scan',
                        return_value={'foo': 0})
diff --git a/tools/hooks/post_test_hook.sh b/tools/hooks/post_test_hook.sh
index 72237a1e26..5f72eb378d 100755
--- a/tools/hooks/post_test_hook.sh
+++ b/tools/hooks/post_test_hook.sh
@@ -6,9 +6,13 @@ function archive_deleted_rows {
     # NOTE(danms): Run this a few times to make sure that we end
     # up with nothing more to archive
     for i in `seq 30`; do
-        out=$($MANAGE db archive_deleted_rows --verbose --max_rows 1000)
-        echo $?
-        if [[ $out =~ "Nothing was archived" ]]; then
+        $MANAGE db archive_deleted_rows --verbose --max_rows 1000
+        RET=$?
+        if [[ $RET -gt 1 ]]; then
+            echo Archiving failed with result $RET
+            return $RET
+        elif [[ $RET -eq 0 ]]; then
+            echo Archiving Complete
             break;
         fi
     done