diff --git a/doc/source/cli/trove-status.rst b/doc/source/cli/trove-status.rst
index aa01f2d4f8..0e30e5b49e 100644
--- a/doc/source/cli/trove-status.rst
+++ b/doc/source/cli/trove-status.rst
@@ -75,4 +75,8 @@ Upgrade
 
   **11.0.0 (Stein)**
 
-  * Placeholder to be filled in with checks as they are added in Stein.
+  * Checks if any Trove instance with assigned task is running.
+    The assigned tasks may fail during the upgrade process due to transient
+    unavailability of Trove control plane.
+    Upgrade should be postponed until all instances are in the Active state.
+
diff --git a/trove/cmd/status.py b/trove/cmd/status.py
index da00f675e2..c17bcff8ab 100644
--- a/trove/cmd/status.py
+++ b/trove/cmd/status.py
@@ -18,17 +18,38 @@ from oslo_config import cfg
 from oslo_upgradecheck import upgradecheck
 
 from trove.common.i18n import _
+from trove import db
+from trove.instance.models import DBInstance
+from trove.instance.tasks import InstanceTasks
 
 
 class Checks(upgradecheck.UpgradeCommands):
-
     """Various upgrade checks should be added as separate methods in this class
     and added to _upgrade_checks tuple.
     """
 
-    def _check_placeholder(self):
-        # This is just a placeholder for upgrade checks, it should be
-        # removed when the actual checks are added
+    def _check_instances_with_running_tasks(self):
+        """Finds Trove instances with running tasks.
+
+        Such instances need to communicate with Trove control plane to report
+        status. This may rise issues if Trove services are unavailable, e.g.
+        Trove guest agent may be left in a failed state due to communication
+        issues.
+        """
+
+        db_api = db.get_db_api()
+        db_api.configure_db(cfg.CONF)
+
+        query = DBInstance.query()
+        query = query.filter(DBInstance.task_status != InstanceTasks.NONE)
+        query = query.filter_by(deleted=False)
+        instances_with_tasks = query.count()
+
+        if instances_with_tasks:
+            return upgradecheck.Result(
+                upgradecheck.Code.WARNING,
+                _("Instances with running tasks exist."))
+
         return upgradecheck.Result(upgradecheck.Code.SUCCESS)
 
     # The format of the check functions is to return an
@@ -39,14 +60,15 @@ class Checks(upgradecheck.UpgradeCommands):
     # in the returned Result's "details" attribute. The
     # summary will be rolled up at the end of the check() method.
     _upgrade_checks = (
-        # In the future there should be some real checks added here
-        (_('Placeholder'), _check_placeholder),
+        (_("instances_with_running_tasks"),
+         _check_instances_with_running_tasks),
     )
 
 
 def main():
     return upgradecheck.main(
-        cfg.CONF, project='trove', upgrade_command=Checks())
+        cfg.CONF, project="trove", upgrade_command=Checks())
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/trove/tests/unittests/cmd/test_status.py b/trove/tests/unittests/cmd/test_status.py
index 0b3ca1e4b9..7a94d74ebc 100644
--- a/trove/tests/unittests/cmd/test_status.py
+++ b/trove/tests/unittests/cmd/test_status.py
@@ -12,19 +12,38 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+from mock import Mock
+from mock import patch
 from oslo_upgradecheck.upgradecheck import Code
 
 from trove.cmd import status
 from trove.tests.unittests import trove_testtools
 
 
-class TestUpgradeChecks(trove_testtools.TestCase):
-
+@patch("trove.cmd.status.db.get_db_api")
+@patch("trove.cmd.status.DBInstance")
+class TestUpgradeChecksInstancesWithTasks(trove_testtools.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
-        super(TestUpgradeChecks, self).setUp()
+        super(TestUpgradeChecksInstancesWithTasks, self).setUp()
         self.cmd = status.Checks()
+        self.fake_db_api = Mock()
 
-    def test__check_placeholder(self):
-        check_result = self.cmd._check_placeholder()
-        self.assertEqual(
-            Code.SUCCESS, check_result.code)
+    def test__check_no_instances_with_tasks(self, mock_instance,
+                                            fake_get_db_api):
+        fake_get_db_api.return_value = self.fake_db_api
+
+        mock_instance.query.return_value.filter.return_value.filter_by.\
+            return_value.count.return_value = 0
+
+        check_result = self.cmd._check_instances_with_running_tasks()
+        self.assertEqual(Code.SUCCESS, check_result.code)
+
+    def test__check_instances_with_tasks(self, mock_instance,
+                                         fake_get_db_api):
+        fake_get_db_api.return_value = self.fake_db_api
+
+        mock_instance.query.return_value.filter.return_value.filter_by.\
+            return_value.count.return_value = 1
+
+        check_result = self.cmd._check_instances_with_running_tasks()
+        self.assertEqual(Code.WARNING, check_result.code)