diff --git a/placement/objects/resource_provider.py b/placement/objects/resource_provider.py
index 69c1ebcd4..293c14a30 100644
--- a/placement/objects/resource_provider.py
+++ b/placement/objects/resource_provider.py
@@ -4120,20 +4120,20 @@ class AllocationCandidates(base.VersionedObject):
         alloc_request_objs, summary_objs = _merge_candidates(
                 candidates, group_policy=group_policy)
 
+        return cls._limit_results(alloc_request_objs, summary_objs, limit)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _limit_results(alloc_request_objs, summary_objs, limit):
         # Limit the number of allocation request objects. We do this after
         # creating all of them so that we can do a random slice without
         # needing to mess with the complex sql above or add additional
         # columns to the DB.
-        if limit and limit <= len(alloc_request_objs):
+        if limit and limit < len(alloc_request_objs):
             if CONF.placement.randomize_allocation_candidates:
                 alloc_request_objs = random.sample(alloc_request_objs, limit)
             else:
                 alloc_request_objs = alloc_request_objs[:limit]
-        elif CONF.placement.randomize_allocation_candidates:
-            random.shuffle(alloc_request_objs)
-
-        # Limit summaries to only those mentioned in the allocation requests.
-        if limit and limit <= len(alloc_request_objs):
+            # Limit summaries to only those mentioned in the allocation reqs.
             kept_summary_objs = []
             alloc_req_rp_uuids = set()
             # Extract resource provider uuids from the resource requests.
@@ -4147,10 +4147,11 @@ class AllocationCandidates(base.VersionedObject):
                 if rp_uuid not in alloc_req_rp_uuids:
                     continue
                 kept_summary_objs.append(summary)
-        else:
-            kept_summary_objs = summary_objs
+            summary_objs = kept_summary_objs
+        elif CONF.placement.randomize_allocation_candidates:
+            random.shuffle(alloc_request_objs)
 
-        return alloc_request_objs, kept_summary_objs
+        return alloc_request_objs, summary_objs
 
 
 @db_api.placement_context_manager.writer
diff --git a/placement/tests/unit/objects/test_resource_provider.py b/placement/tests/unit/objects/test_resource_provider.py
index ebc2227ae..c9cb3fd25 100644
--- a/placement/tests/unit/objects/test_resource_provider.py
+++ b/placement/tests/unit/objects/test_resource_provider.py
@@ -328,3 +328,34 @@ class TestTraits(_TestCase):
         rp.set_traits(traits)
         mock_set_traits.assert_called_once_with(self.context, rp, traits)
         mock_reset.assert_called_once_with()
+
+
+class TestAllocationCandidatesNoDB(_TestCase):
+    def test_limit_results(self):
+        # UUIDs don't have to be real UUIDs to test the logic
+        aro_in = [
+            mock.Mock(
+                resource_requests=[
+                    mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=uuid))
+                    for uuid in (1, 0, 4, 8)]),
+            mock.Mock(
+                resource_requests=[
+                    mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=uuid))
+                    for uuid in (4, 8, 5)]),
+            mock.Mock(
+                resource_requests=[
+                    mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=uuid))
+                    for uuid in (1, 7, 6, 4, 8, 5)]),
+        ]
+        sum1 = mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=1))
+        sum0 = mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=0))
+        sum4 = mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=4))
+        sum8 = mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=8))
+        sum5 = mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=5))
+        sum7 = mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=7))
+        sum6 = mock.Mock(resource_provider=mock.Mock(uuid=6))
+        sum_in = [sum1, sum0, sum4, sum8, sum5, sum7, sum6]
+        aro, sum = resource_provider.AllocationCandidates._limit_results(
+            aro_in, sum_in, 2)
+        self.assertEqual(aro_in[:2], aro)
+        self.assertEqual(set([sum1, sum0, sum4, sum8, sum5]), set(sum))