diff --git a/cloudinit/reporting/handlers.py b/cloudinit/reporting/handlers.py
index be323f53..24734b4e 100644
--- a/cloudinit/reporting/handlers.py
+++ b/cloudinit/reporting/handlers.py
@@ -1,14 +1,22 @@
 import abc
 import logging
 
+import six
+
 from cloudinit.registry import DictRegistry
 
 
+@six.add_metaclass(abc.ABCMeta)
 class ReportingHandler(object):
+    """Base class for report handlers.
+
+    Implement :meth:`~publish_event` for controlling what
+    the handler does with an event.
+    """
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def publish_event(self, event):
-        raise NotImplementedError
+        """Publish an event to the ``INFO`` log level."""
 
 
 class LogHandler(ReportingHandler):
diff --git a/cloudinit/tests/test_reporting.py b/cloudinit/tests/test_reporting.py
index 9c5d1c0b..66958811 100644
--- a/cloudinit/tests/test_reporting.py
+++ b/cloudinit/tests/test_reporting.py
@@ -92,11 +92,12 @@ class TestReportingEvent(TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(expected_string_representation, event.as_string())
 
 
-class TestReportingHandler(TestCase):
+class TestBaseReportingHandler(TestCase):
 
-    def test_no_default_publish_event_implementation(self):
-        self.assertRaises(NotImplementedError,
-                          handlers.ReportingHandler().publish_event, None)
+    def test_base_reporting_handler_is_abstract(self):
+        exc = self.assertRaises(TypeError, handlers.ReportingHandler)
+        self.assertIn("publish_event", str(exc))
+        self.assertIn("abstract", str(exc))
 
 
 class TestLogHandler(TestCase):