diff --git a/cinder/tests/unit/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/test_client.py b/cinder/tests/unit/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/test_client.py
index 87a854ea1f8..5a7857d2679 100644
--- a/cinder/tests/unit/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/test_client.py
+++ b/cinder/tests/unit/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/test_client.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import copy
 
 import ddt
 import mock
+from simplejson import scanner
 
 from cinder import exception
 from cinder import test
@@ -87,6 +88,18 @@ class NetAppEseriesClientDriverTestCase(test.TestCase):
             self.my_client._eval_response(fake_resp)
             self.assertEqual(status_code, exc.status_code)
 
+    def test_eval_response_424(self):
+        status_code = 424
+        fake_resp = mock.Mock()
+        fake_resp.status_code = status_code
+        fake_resp.text = "Fake Error Message"
+
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(es_exception.WebServiceException,
+                                    "The storage-system is offline") as exc:
+            self.my_client._eval_response(fake_resp)
+
+            self.assertEqual(status_code, exc.status_code)
+
     def test_register_storage_system_does_not_log_password(self):
         self.my_client._eval_response = mock.Mock()
         self.my_client.register_storage_system([], password=self.fake_password)
@@ -752,6 +765,20 @@ class NetAppEseriesClientDriverTestCase(test.TestCase):
 
         self.assertTrue(self.my_client.features.SSC_API_V2.supported)
 
+    def test_invoke_bad_content_type(self):
+        """Tests the invoke behavior with a non-JSON response"""
+        fake_response = mock.Mock()
+        fake_response.json = mock.Mock(side_effect=scanner.JSONDecodeError(
+            '', '{}', 1))
+        fake_response.status_code = 424
+        fake_response.text = "Fake Response"
+        self.mock_object(self.my_client, 'invoke_service',
+                         mock.Mock(return_value=fake_response))
+
+        self.assertRaises(es_exception.WebServiceException,
+                          self.my_client._invoke, 'GET',
+                          eseries_fake.FAKE_ENDPOINT_HTTP)
+
 
 @ddt.ddt
 class TestWebserviceClientTestCase(test.TestCase):
diff --git a/cinder/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/client.py b/cinder/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/client.py
index 60897216b18..2e9d25c8f1f 100644
--- a/cinder/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/client.py
+++ b/cinder/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/client.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import uuid
 
 from oslo_log import log as logging
 import requests
+from simplejson import scanner
 import six
 from six.moves import urllib
 
@@ -219,7 +220,13 @@ class RestClient(WebserviceClient):
             res = self.invoke_service(method, url, data=data,
                                       headers=headers,
                                       timeout=timeout, verify=verify)
-            res_dict = res.json() if res.text else None
+
+            try:
+                res_dict = res.json() if res.text else None
+            # This should only occur if we expected JSON, but were sent
+            # something else
+            except scanner.JSONDecodeError:
+                res_dict = None
 
             if cinder_utils.TRACE_API:
                 self._log_http_response(res.status_code, dict(res.headers),
@@ -281,6 +288,8 @@ class RestClient(WebserviceClient):
                         msg = _("The storage array password for %s is "
                                 "incorrect, please update the configured "
                                 "password.") % self._system_id
+            elif status_code == 424:
+                msg = _("Response error - The storage-system is offline.")
             else:
                 msg = _("Response error code - %s.") % status_code
             raise es_exception.WebServiceException(msg,
diff --git a/cinder/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/library.py b/cinder/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/library.py
index dc5d0e2064c..d01b942fc96 100644
--- a/cinder/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/library.py
+++ b/cinder/volume/drivers/netapp/eseries/library.py
@@ -173,8 +173,11 @@ class NetAppESeriesLibrary(object):
     def check_for_setup_error(self):
         self._check_host_type()
         self._check_multipath()
-        self._check_pools()
+        # It is important that this be called before any other methods that
+        # interact with the storage-system. It blocks until the
+        # storage-system comes online.
         self._check_storage_system()
+        self._check_pools()
         self._start_periodic_tasks()
 
     def _check_host_type(self):