diff --git a/ironic/conductor/manager.py b/ironic/conductor/manager.py
index d8d41f8965..4b7b1524c5 100644
--- a/ironic/conductor/manager.py
+++ b/ironic/conductor/manager.py
@@ -1665,20 +1665,28 @@ class ConductorManager(base_manager.BaseConductorManager):
     def _sync_power_states(self, context):
         """Periodic task to sync power states for the nodes."""
         filters = {'maintenance': False}
-        nodes = queue.Queue()
-        for node_info in self.iter_nodes(fields=['id'], filters=filters):
-            nodes.put(node_info)
+
+        # NOTE(etingof): prioritize non-responding nodes to fail them fast
+        nodes = sorted(
+            self.iter_nodes(fields=['id'], filters=filters),
+            key=lambda n: -self.power_state_sync_count.get(n[0], 0)
+        )
+
+        nodes_queue = queue.Queue()
+
+        for node_info in nodes:
+            nodes_queue.put(node_info)
 
         number_of_workers = min(CONF.conductor.sync_power_state_workers,
                                 CONF.conductor.periodic_max_workers,
-                                nodes.qsize())
+                                nodes_queue.qsize())
         futures = []
 
         for worker_number in range(max(0, number_of_workers - 1)):
             try:
                 futures.append(
                     self._spawn_worker(self._sync_power_state_nodes_task,
-                                       context, nodes))
+                                       context, nodes_queue))
             except exception.NoFreeConductorWorker:
                 LOG.warning("There are no more conductor workers for "
                             "power sync task. %(workers)d workers have "
@@ -1687,7 +1695,7 @@ class ConductorManager(base_manager.BaseConductorManager):
                 break
 
         try:
-            self._sync_power_state_nodes_task(context, nodes)
+            self._sync_power_state_nodes_task(context, nodes_queue)
 
         finally:
             waiters.wait_for_all(futures)
diff --git a/ironic/tests/unit/conductor/test_manager.py b/ironic/tests/unit/conductor/test_manager.py
index 5d57f1cab5..836678f8b6 100644
--- a/ironic/tests/unit/conductor/test_manager.py
+++ b/ironic/tests/unit/conductor/test_manager.py
@@ -7160,7 +7160,7 @@ class ParallelPowerSyncTestCase(mgr_utils.CommonMixIn, db_base.DbTestCase):
         CONF.set_override('sync_power_state_workers', 8, group='conductor')
 
         with mock.patch.object(self.service, 'iter_nodes',
-                               new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[None] * 9)):
+                               new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[[0]] * 9)):
 
             self.service._sync_power_states(self.context)
 
@@ -7174,7 +7174,7 @@ class ParallelPowerSyncTestCase(mgr_utils.CommonMixIn, db_base.DbTestCase):
         CONF.set_override('sync_power_state_workers', 8, group='conductor')
 
         with mock.patch.object(self.service, 'iter_nodes',
-                               new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[None] * 6)):
+                               new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[[0]] * 6)):
 
             self.service._sync_power_states(self.context)
 
@@ -7188,7 +7188,7 @@ class ParallelPowerSyncTestCase(mgr_utils.CommonMixIn, db_base.DbTestCase):
         CONF.set_override('sync_power_state_workers', 8, group='conductor')
 
         with mock.patch.object(self.service, 'iter_nodes',
-                               new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[None])):
+                               new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[[0]])):
 
             self.service._sync_power_states(self.context)
 
@@ -7202,7 +7202,7 @@ class ParallelPowerSyncTestCase(mgr_utils.CommonMixIn, db_base.DbTestCase):
         CONF.set_override('sync_power_state_workers', 1, group='conductor')
 
         with mock.patch.object(self.service, 'iter_nodes',
-                               new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[None] * 9)):
+                               new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[[0]] * 9)):
 
             self.service._sync_power_states(self.context)
 
@@ -7210,6 +7210,26 @@ class ParallelPowerSyncTestCase(mgr_utils.CommonMixIn, db_base.DbTestCase):
             self.assertEqual(1, sync_mock.call_count)
             self.assertEqual(1, waiter_mock.call_count)
 
+    @mock.patch.object(queue, 'Queue', autospec=True)
+    def test__sync_power_states_node_prioritization(
+            self, queue_mock, sync_mock, spawn_mock, waiter_mock):
+
+        CONF.set_override('sync_power_state_workers', 1, group='conductor')
+
+        with mock.patch.object(
+            self.service, 'iter_nodes',
+            new=mock.MagicMock(return_value=[[0], [1], [2]])
+        ), mock.patch.dict(
+                self.service.power_state_sync_count,
+                {0: 1, 1: 0, 2: 2}, clear=True):
+
+            queue_mock.return_value.qsize.return_value = 0
+
+            self.service._sync_power_states(self.context)
+
+            expected_calls = [mock.call([2]), mock.call([0]), mock.call([1])]
+            queue_mock.return_value.put.assert_has_calls(expected_calls)
+
 
 @mock.patch.object(task_manager, 'acquire')
 @mock.patch.object(manager.ConductorManager, '_mapped_to_this_conductor')