diff --git a/ironic/common/neutron.py b/ironic/common/neutron.py
index df5b5bd7a8..aca98fee27 100644
--- a/ironic/common/neutron.py
+++ b/ironic/common/neutron.py
@@ -70,7 +70,11 @@ def get_client(token=None, context=None, auth_from_config=False):
 
     user_auth = None
     if (not auth_from_config and CONF.neutron.auth_type != 'none'
-            and context.auth_token):
+            and context.auth_token and not context.system_scope):
+        # If we have a token, we *should* use the user's auth, however we
+        # can only do so *if* it is a project scoped request. If it is
+        # system scoped, we cannot leverage user auth data to make the next
+        # request.
         user_auth = keystone.get_service_auth(context, endpoint, service_auth)
 
     sess = keystone.get_session('neutron', timeout=CONF.neutron.timeout,
diff --git a/ironic/tests/unit/common/test_neutron.py b/ironic/tests/unit/common/test_neutron.py
index 7dc67ab329..a29a560a1a 100644
--- a/ironic/tests/unit/common/test_neutron.py
+++ b/ironic/tests/unit/common/test_neutron.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ class TestNeutronClient(base.TestCase):
                                            mock_auth, mock_sauth):
         mock_ctxt.return_value = ctxt = mock.Mock()
         ctxt.auth_token = 'test-token-123'
+        ctxt.system_scope = None
         neutron.get_client(token='test-token-123')
         mock_ctxt.assert_called_once_with(auth_token='test-token-123')
         mock_client_init.assert_called_once_with(oslo_conf=mock.ANY,
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/fix-system-scope-triggered-clean-22ada9b920c08365.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/fix-system-scope-triggered-clean-22ada9b920c08365.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..325d615eff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/fix-system-scope-triggered-clean-22ada9b920c08365.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    Fixes an issue where a System Scoped user could not trigger a node into
+    a ``manageable`` state with cleaning enabled, as the Neutron client would
+    attempt to utilize their user's token to create the Neutron port for the
+    cleaning operation, as designed. This is because with requests made in the
+    ``system`` scope, there is no associated project and the request fails.
+
+    Ironic now checks if the request has been made with a ``system`` scope,
+    and if so it utilizes the internal credential configuration to communicate
+    with Neutron.