diff --git a/devstack/upgrade/upgrade.sh b/devstack/upgrade/upgrade.sh
index 5e70ee4314..8c6096da83 100755
--- a/devstack/upgrade/upgrade.sh
+++ b/devstack/upgrade/upgrade.sh
@@ -74,7 +74,15 @@ upgrade_project ironic $RUN_DIR $BASE_DEVSTACK_BRANCH $TARGET_DEVSTACK_BRANCH
 # NOTE(rloo): make sure it is OK to do an upgrade. Except that we aren't
 # parsing/checking the output of this command because the output could change
 # based on the checks it makes.
-$IRONIC_BIN_DIR/ironic-status upgrade check
+$IRONIC_BIN_DIR/ironic-status upgrade check && ret_val=$? || ret_val=$?
+if [ $ret_val -gt 1 ] ; then
+    # NOTE(TheJulia): We need to evaluate the return code from the
+    # upgrade status check as the framework defines
+    # Warnings are permissible and returned as status code 1, errors are
+    # returned as greater than 1 which means there is a major upgrade
+    # stopping issue which needs to be addressed.
+    die $LINENO "Ironic DB Status check failed, returned: $ret_val"
+fi
 
 $IRONIC_BIN_DIR/ironic-dbsync --config-file=$IRONIC_CONF_FILE
 
diff --git a/ironic/cmd/status.py b/ironic/cmd/status.py
index 906377994c..37fdbaf7dd 100644
--- a/ironic/cmd/status.py
+++ b/ironic/cmd/status.py
@@ -51,21 +51,6 @@ class Checks(upgradecheck.UpgradeCommands):
         else:
             return upgradecheck.Result(upgradecheck.Code.FAILURE, details=msg)
 
-    # A tuple of check tuples of (<name of check>, <check function>).
-    # The name of the check will be used in the output of this command.
-    # The check function takes no arguments and returns an
-    # oslo_upgradecheck.upgradecheck.Result object with the appropriate
-    # oslo_upgradecheck.upgradecheck.Code and details set. If the
-    # check function hits warnings or failures then those should be stored
-    # in the returned Result's "details" attribute. The
-    # summary will be rolled up at the end of the check() method.
-    _upgrade_checks = (
-        (_('Object versions'), _check_obj_versions),
-        # Victoria -> Wallaby migration
-        (_('Policy File JSON to YAML Migration'),
-         (common_checks.check_policy_json, {'conf': CONF})),
-    )
-
     def _check_db_indexes(self):
         """Check if indexes exist on heavily used columns.
 
@@ -100,6 +85,22 @@ class Checks(upgradecheck.UpgradeCommands):
         else:
             return upgradecheck.Result(upgradecheck.Code.SUCCESS)
 
+    # A tuple of check tuples of (<name of check>, <check function>).
+    # The name of the check will be used in the output of this command.
+    # The check function takes no arguments and returns an
+    # oslo_upgradecheck.upgradecheck.Result object with the appropriate
+    # oslo_upgradecheck.upgradecheck.Code and details set. If the
+    # check function hits warnings or failures then those should be stored
+    # in the returned Result's "details" attribute. The
+    # summary will be rolled up at the end of the check() method.
+    _upgrade_checks = (
+        (_('Object versions'), _check_obj_versions),
+        (_('Database Index Status'), _check_db_indexes),
+        # Victoria -> Wallaby migration
+        (_('Policy File JSON to YAML Migration'),
+         (common_checks.check_policy_json, {'conf': CONF})),
+    )
+
 
 def main():
     return upgradecheck.main(