diff --git a/glance/cmd/manage.py b/glance/cmd/manage.py
index 08a6430115..4a950e1c36 100755
--- a/glance/cmd/manage.py
+++ b/glance/cmd/manage.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class DbCommands(object):
           help='Current Database version')
     def sync(self, version=None, current_version=None):
         """
-        Place a database under migration control and upgrade,
+        Place a database under migration control and upgrade/downgrade it,
         creating first if necessary.
         """
         migration.db_sync(version, current_version)
diff --git a/glance/db/sqlalchemy/migration.py b/glance/db/sqlalchemy/migration.py
index 224b0bd8a8..afeefd3f70 100644
--- a/glance/db/sqlalchemy/migration.py
+++ b/glance/db/sqlalchemy/migration.py
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ def _version_control(version):
 
 def db_sync(version=None, current_version=None):
     """
-    Place a database under migration control and perform an upgrade
+    Place a database under migration control and upgrade/downgrade it.
 
     :retval version number
     """
@@ -112,10 +112,13 @@ def db_sync(version=None, current_version=None):
 
     if current_version is None:
         current_version = int(db_version())
+
     if version is not None and int(version) < current_version:
-        downgrade(version=version)
+        return downgrade(version=version)
     elif version is None or int(version) > current_version:
-        upgrade(version=version)
+        return upgrade(version=version)
+    else:
+        return current_version
 
 
 def get_migrate_repo_path():