diff --git a/masakari/engine/instance_events.py b/masakari/engine/instance_events.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3affdc9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/masakari/engine/instance_events.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Copyright 2017 NTT DATA
+# All Rights Reserved.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+""" VM libvirt events
+
+These are the events which needs to be processed by masakari in case of
+instance recovery failure.
+"""
+
+INSTANCE_EVENTS = {
+    # Add more events and vir_domain_events here.
+    'LIFECYCLE': ['STOPPED_FAILED'],
+    'IO_ERROR': ['IO_ERROR_REPORT']
+}
+
+
+def is_valid_event(payload):
+    vir_domain_event_list = INSTANCE_EVENTS.get(payload.get('event'))
+    if vir_domain_event_list and payload.get(
+            'vir_domain_event') in vir_domain_event_list:
+        return True
+    return False
diff --git a/masakari/engine/manager.py b/masakari/engine/manager.py
index 843bd46a..b44cd694 100644
--- a/masakari/engine/manager.py
+++ b/masakari/engine/manager.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ from oslo_utils import timeutils
 
 import masakari.conf
 from masakari.engine import driver
+from masakari.engine import instance_events as virt_events
 from masakari import exception
 from masakari.i18n import _LE, _LI, _LW
 from masakari import manager
@@ -100,6 +101,13 @@ class MasakariManager(manager.Manager):
         return notification_status
 
     def _handle_notification_type_instance(self, context, notification):
+        if not virt_events.is_valid_event(notification.payload):
+            LOG.info(_LI("Notification '%(uuid)s' received with payload "
+                         "%(payload)s is ignored."), {
+                "uuid": notification.notification_uuid,
+                "payload": notification.payload})
+            return fields.NotificationStatus.IGNORED
+
         notification_status = fields.NotificationStatus.FINISHED
         try:
             self.driver.execute_instance_failure(
diff --git a/masakari/tests/unit/engine/test_engine_mgr.py b/masakari/tests/unit/engine/test_engine_mgr.py
index cde0de96..ac2ca023 100644
--- a/masakari/tests/unit/engine/test_engine_mgr.py
+++ b/masakari/tests/unit/engine/test_engine_mgr.py
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ class EngineManagerUnitTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     def _get_vm_type_notification(self):
         return fakes.create_fake_notification(
             type="VM", id=1, payload={
-                'event': 'stopped', 'instance_uuid': uuidsentinel.fake_ins,
-                'vir_domain_event': 'fake_event'
+                'event': 'LIFECYCLE', 'instance_uuid': uuidsentinel.fake_ins,
+                'vir_domain_event': 'STOPPED_FAILED'
             },
             source_host_uuid=uuidsentinel.fake_host,
             generated_time=NOW, status="new",
@@ -100,6 +100,22 @@ class EngineManagerUnitTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
             self.context, notification.payload.get('instance_uuid'),
             notification.notification_uuid)
 
+    @mock.patch.object(notification_obj.Notification, "save")
+    def test_process_notification_type_vm_error_event_unmatched(
+            self, mock_save):
+        notification = fakes.create_fake_notification(
+            type="VM", id=1, payload={
+                'event': 'fake_event', 'instance_uuid': uuidsentinel.fake_ins,
+                'vir_domain_event': 'fake_vir_domain_event'
+            },
+            source_host_uuid=uuidsentinel.fake_host,
+            generated_time=NOW, status="new",
+            notification_uuid=uuidsentinel.fake_notification)
+
+        self.engine.process_notification(self.context,
+                                         notification=notification)
+        self.assertEqual("ignored", notification.status)
+
     @mock.patch("masakari.engine.drivers.taskflow."
                 "TaskFlowDriver.execute_instance_failure")
     @mock.patch.object(notification_obj.Notification, "save")