diff --git a/cinder/manager.py b/cinder/manager.py
index ac1499328df..94651056bb8 100644
--- a/cinder/manager.py
+++ b/cinder/manager.py
@@ -174,11 +174,20 @@ class SchedulerDependentManager(Manager):
                 self.service_name,
                 self.host,
                 self.last_capabilities)
-            self.scheduler_rpcapi.notify_service_capabilities(
-                context,
-                self.service_name,
-                self.host,
-                self.last_capabilities)
+            try:
+                self.scheduler_rpcapi.notify_service_capabilities(
+                    context,
+                    self.service_name,
+                    self.host,
+                    self.last_capabilities)
+            except exception.ServiceTooOld as e:
+                # This means we have Newton's c-sch in the deployment, so
+                # rpcapi cannot send the message. We can safely ignore the
+                # error. Log it because it shouldn't happen after upgrade.
+                msg = _LW("Failed to notify about cinder-volume service "
+                          "capabilities for host %(host)s. This is normal "
+                          "during a live upgrade. Error: %(e)s")
+                LOG.warning(msg, {'host': self.host, 'e': e})
 
     def _add_to_threadpool(self, func, *args, **kwargs):
         self._tp.spawn_n(func, *args, **kwargs)
diff --git a/cinder/scheduler/rpcapi.py b/cinder/scheduler/rpcapi.py
index 363c7495648..db1e89f1db8 100644
--- a/cinder/scheduler/rpcapi.py
+++ b/cinder/scheduler/rpcapi.py
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ Client side of the scheduler manager RPC API.
 from oslo_serialization import jsonutils
 
 from cinder.common import constants
+from cinder import exception
+from cinder.i18n import _
 from cinder import rpc
 
 
@@ -144,6 +146,10 @@ class SchedulerAPI(rpc.RPCAPI):
     def notify_service_capabilities(self, ctxt, service_name,
                                     host, capabilities):
         cctxt = self._get_cctxt(version='3.1')
+        if not cctxt.can_send_version('3.1'):
+            msg = _('notify_service_capabilities requires cinder-scheduler '
+                    'RPC API version >= 3.1.')
+            raise exception.ServiceTooOld(msg)
         cctxt.cast(ctxt, 'notify_service_capabilities',
                    service_name=service_name, host=host,
                    capabilities=capabilities)
diff --git a/cinder/tests/unit/scheduler/test_rpcapi.py b/cinder/tests/unit/scheduler/test_rpcapi.py
index 9b280e8cb77..16d7c55f4fc 100644
--- a/cinder/tests/unit/scheduler/test_rpcapi.py
+++ b/cinder/tests/unit/scheduler/test_rpcapi.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Unit Tests for cinder.scheduler.rpcapi
 import mock
 
 from cinder import context
+from cinder import exception
 from cinder.scheduler import rpcapi as scheduler_rpcapi
 from cinder import test
 from cinder.tests.unit import fake_constants
@@ -96,7 +97,8 @@ class SchedulerRpcAPITestCase(test.TestCase):
                                  version='3.0')
         create_worker_mock.assert_called_once()
 
-    def test_notify_service_capabilities(self):
+    @mock.patch('oslo_messaging.RPCClient.can_send_version', return_value=True)
+    def test_notify_service_capabilities(self, can_send_version_mock):
         capabilities = {'host': 'fake_host',
                         'total': '10.01', }
         self._test_scheduler_api('notify_service_capabilities',
@@ -106,6 +108,20 @@ class SchedulerRpcAPITestCase(test.TestCase):
                                  capabilities=capabilities,
                                  version='3.1')
 
+    @mock.patch('oslo_messaging.RPCClient.can_send_version',
+                return_value=False)
+    def test_notify_service_capabilities_capped(self, can_send_version_mock):
+        capabilities = {'host': 'fake_host',
+                        'total': '10.01', }
+        self.assertRaises(exception.ServiceTooOld,
+                          self._test_scheduler_api,
+                          'notify_service_capabilities',
+                          rpc_method='cast',
+                          service_name='fake_name',
+                          host='fake_host',
+                          capabilities=capabilities,
+                          version='3.1')
+
     def test_create_volume_serialization(self):
         volume = fake_volume.fake_volume_obj(self.context)
         create_worker_mock = self.mock_object(volume, 'create_worker')