diff --git a/neutron/agent/linux/iptables_manager.py b/neutron/agent/linux/iptables_manager.py
index a7678909847..3f12e1a6f69 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/linux/iptables_manager.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/linux/iptables_manager.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import six
 
 from neutron._i18n import _, _LE, _LW
 from neutron.agent.common import config
+from neutron.agent.linux import ip_lib
 from neutron.agent.linux import iptables_comments as ic
 from neutron.agent.linux import utils as linux_utils
 from neutron.common import exceptions as n_exc
@@ -471,7 +472,20 @@ class IptablesManager(object):
             args = ['%s-save' % (cmd,)]
             if self.namespace:
                 args = ['ip', 'netns', 'exec', self.namespace] + args
-            save_output = self.execute(args, run_as_root=True)
+            try:
+                save_output = self.execute(args, run_as_root=True)
+            except RuntimeError:
+                # We could be racing with a cron job deleting namespaces.
+                # It is useless to try to apply iptables rules over and
+                # over again in a endless loop if the namespace does not
+                # exist.
+                with excutils.save_and_reraise_exception() as ctx:
+                    if (self.namespace and not
+                            ip_lib.IPWrapper().netns.exists(self.namespace)):
+                        ctx.reraise = False
+                        LOG.error(_LE("Namespace %s was deleted during "
+                                  "IPTables operations."), self.namespace)
+                        return []
             all_lines = save_output.split('\n')
             commands = []
             # Traverse tables in sorted order for predictable dump output
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_iptables_manager.py b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_iptables_manager.py
index cb0d8289e50..2d243f06948 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_iptables_manager.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_iptables_manager.py
@@ -982,6 +982,20 @@ class IptablesManagerStateFulTestCase(base.BaseTestCase):
             {'wrap': True, 'top': False, 'rule': '-j DROP',
              'chain': 'nonexistent'})
 
+    def test_iptables__apply_synchronized_no_namespace(self):
+        self.execute.side_effect = RuntimeError
+        # no namespace set so should raise
+        self.assertRaises(RuntimeError,
+                          self.iptables._apply_synchronized)
+        self.iptables.namespace = 'test'
+        with mock.patch('neutron.agent.linux.ip_lib.IpNetnsCommand.exists',
+                        return_value=True):
+            self.assertRaises(RuntimeError,
+                              self.iptables._apply_synchronized)
+        with mock.patch('neutron.agent.linux.ip_lib.IpNetnsCommand.exists',
+                        return_value=False):
+            self.assertEqual([], self.iptables._apply_synchronized())
+
     def test_iptables_failure_with_no_failing_line_number(self):
         with mock.patch.object(iptables_manager, "LOG") as log:
             # generate Runtime errors on iptables-restore calls