diff --git a/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api.py b/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
index 10c2d689854f..acee95e6b142 100644
--- a/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
+++ b/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api.py
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ def exact_filter(query, model, filters, legal_keys):
         # OK, filtering on this key; what value do we search for?
         value = filters.pop(key)
 
-        if key == 'metadata':
+        if key == 'metadata' or key == 'system_metadata':
             column_attr = getattr(model, key)
             if isinstance(value, list):
                 for item in value:
@@ -1691,7 +1691,8 @@ def instance_get_all_by_filters(context, filters, sort_key, sort_dir,
     # For other filters that don't match this, we will do regexp matching
     exact_match_filter_names = ['project_id', 'user_id', 'image_ref',
                                 'vm_state', 'instance_type_id', 'uuid',
-                                'metadata', 'task_state']
+                                'metadata', 'host', 'task_state',
+                                'system_metadata']
 
     # Filter the query
     query_prefix = exact_filter(query_prefix, models.Instance,
diff --git a/nova/scheduler/driver.py b/nova/scheduler/driver.py
index 4f4a37cd3b4c..5e7a0db84c2e 100644
--- a/nova/scheduler/driver.py
+++ b/nova/scheduler/driver.py
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ class Scheduler(object):
 
         # The system_metadata 'group' will be filtered
         members = db.instance_get_all_by_filters(context,
-                {'deleted': False, 'group': group})
+                {'deleted': False, 'system_metadata': {'group': group}})
         return [member['host']
                 for member in members
                 if member.get('host') is not None]
diff --git a/nova/tests/test_db_api.py b/nova/tests/test_db_api.py
index 8a60293a0233..6ee342fb0404 100644
--- a/nova/tests/test_db_api.py
+++ b/nova/tests/test_db_api.py
@@ -181,6 +181,14 @@ class DbApiTestCase(DbTestCase):
                                                 {'metadata': {'foo': 'bar'}})
         self.assertEqual(1, len(result))
 
+    def test_instance_get_all_by_filters_system_metadata(self):
+        instance = self.create_instances_with_args(
+                system_metadata={'foo': 'bar'})
+        self.create_instances_with_args()
+        result = db.instance_get_all_by_filters(self.context,
+                {'system_metadata': {'foo': 'bar'}})
+        self.assertEqual(1, len(result))
+
     def test_instance_get_all_by_filters_unicode_value(self):
         self.create_instances_with_args(display_name=u'test♥')
         result = db.instance_get_all_by_filters(self.context,