diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/instance-instance-get-resp.json.tpl b/doc/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-action-get-resp.json
similarity index 99%
rename from nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/instance-instance-get-resp.json.tpl
rename to doc/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-action-get-resp.json
index f259deefdb26..cbb6236c4eef 100644
--- a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/instance-instance-get-resp.json.tpl
+++ b/doc/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-action-get-resp.json
@@ -24,4 +24,4 @@
         "start_time": "2012-12-05T00:00:00.000000",
         "user_id": "789"
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/doc/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-actions-list-resp.json b/doc/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-actions-list-resp.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b9ae31ac53db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-actions-list-resp.json
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{
+    "instanceActions": [
+        {
+            "action": "resize",
+            "instance_uuid": "b48316c5-71e8-45e4-9884-6c78055b9b13",
+            "message": "",
+            "project_id": "842",
+            "request_id": "req-25517360-b757-47d3-be45-0e8d2a01b36a",
+            "start_time": "2012-12-05T01:00:00.000000",
+            "user_id": "789"
+        },
+        {
+            "action": "reboot",
+            "instance_uuid": "b48316c5-71e8-45e4-9884-6c78055b9b13",
+            "message": "",
+            "project_id": "147",
+            "request_id": "req-3293a3f1-b44c-4609-b8d2-d81b105636b8",
+            "start_time": "2012-12-05T00:00:00.000000",
+            "user_id": "789"
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/doc/api_samples/versions/v21-version-get-resp.json b/doc/api_samples/versions/v21-version-get-resp.json
index 1366d699779e..f22db3db2b74 100644
--- a/doc/api_samples/versions/v21-version-get-resp.json
+++ b/doc/api_samples/versions/v21-version-get-resp.json
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
             }
         ],
         "status": "CURRENT",
-        "version": "2.20",
+        "version": "2.21",
         "min_version": "2.1",
         "updated": "2013-07-23T11:33:21Z"
     }
diff --git a/doc/api_samples/versions/versions-get-resp.json b/doc/api_samples/versions/versions-get-resp.json
index 4a33f304cdb3..bb902524ae3d 100644
--- a/doc/api_samples/versions/versions-get-resp.json
+++ b/doc/api_samples/versions/versions-get-resp.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
                 }
             ],
             "status": "CURRENT",
-            "version": "2.20",
+            "version": "2.21",
             "min_version": "2.1",
             "updated": "2013-07-23T11:33:21Z"
         }
diff --git a/nova/api/openstack/api_version_request.py b/nova/api/openstack/api_version_request.py
index 9f3cda6a7421..967128501540 100644
--- a/nova/api/openstack/api_version_request.py
+++ b/nova/api/openstack/api_version_request.py
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ REST_API_VERSION_HISTORY = """REST API Version History:
     * 2.19 - Allow user to set and get the server description
     * 2.20 - Add attach and detach volume operations for instances in shelved
              and shelved_offloaded state
+    * 2.21 - Make os-instance-actions read deleted instances
 
 """
 
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ REST_API_VERSION_HISTORY = """REST API Version History:
 # Note(cyeoh): This only applies for the v2.1 API once microversions
 # support is fully merged. It does not affect the V2 API.
 _MIN_API_VERSION = "2.1"
-_MAX_API_VERSION = "2.20"
+_MAX_API_VERSION = "2.21"
 DEFAULT_API_VERSION = _MIN_API_VERSION
 
 
diff --git a/nova/api/openstack/compute/instance_actions.py b/nova/api/openstack/compute/instance_actions.py
index b915ea8dd702..a84c5b1c0e6b 100644
--- a/nova/api/openstack/compute/instance_actions.py
+++ b/nova/api/openstack/compute/instance_actions.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from nova.api.openstack import extensions
 from nova.api.openstack import wsgi
 from nova import compute
 from nova.i18n import _
+from nova import utils
 
 ALIAS = "os-instance-actions"
 authorize = extensions.os_compute_authorizer(ALIAS)
@@ -49,11 +50,20 @@ class InstanceActionsController(wsgi.Controller):
             event[key] = event_raw.get(key)
         return event
 
+    @wsgi.Controller.api_version("2.1", "2.20")
+    def _get_instance(self, req, context, server_id):
+        return common.get_instance(self.compute_api, context, server_id)
+
+    @wsgi.Controller.api_version("2.21")  # noqa
+    def _get_instance(self, req, context, server_id):
+        with utils.temporary_mutation(context, read_deleted='yes'):
+            return common.get_instance(self.compute_api, context, server_id)
+
     @extensions.expected_errors(404)
     def index(self, req, server_id):
         """Returns the list of actions recorded for a given instance."""
         context = req.environ["nova.context"]
-        instance = common.get_instance(self.compute_api, context, server_id)
+        instance = self._get_instance(req, context, server_id)
         authorize(context, target=instance)
         actions_raw = self.action_api.actions_get(context, instance)
         actions = [self._format_action(action) for action in actions_raw]
@@ -63,7 +73,7 @@ class InstanceActionsController(wsgi.Controller):
     def show(self, req, server_id, id):
         """Return data about the given instance action."""
         context = req.environ['nova.context']
-        instance = common.get_instance(self.compute_api, context, server_id)
+        instance = self._get_instance(req, context, server_id)
         authorize(context, target=instance)
         action = self.action_api.action_get_by_request_id(context, instance,
                                                           id)
diff --git a/nova/api/openstack/rest_api_version_history.rst b/nova/api/openstack/rest_api_version_history.rst
index 4c386a1034d3..ad35316bca24 100644
--- a/nova/api/openstack/rest_api_version_history.rst
+++ b/nova/api/openstack/rest_api_version_history.rst
@@ -176,6 +176,10 @@ user documentation.
 
 2.20
 ----
-
   From this version of the API user can call detach and attach volumes for
   instances which are in shelved and shelved_offloaded state.
+
+2.21
+----
+  The ``os-instance-actions`` API now returns information from deleted
+  instances.
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/api/client.py b/nova/tests/functional/api/client.py
index 9feae1272281..4a43c2abf898 100644
--- a/nova/tests/functional/api/client.py
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/api/client.py
@@ -193,8 +193,11 @@ class TestOpenStackClient(object):
             resp.body = jsonutils.loads(response.content)
         return resp
 
-    def api_get(self, relative_uri, **kwargs):
+    def api_get(self, relative_uri, api_version=None, **kwargs):
         kwargs.setdefault('check_response_status', [200])
+        if api_version:
+            headers = kwargs.setdefault('headers', {})
+            headers['X-OpenStack-Nova-API-Version'] = api_version
         return APIResponse(self.api_request(relative_uri, **kwargs))
 
     def api_post(self, relative_uri, body, api_version=None, **kwargs):
@@ -360,6 +363,6 @@ class TestOpenStackClient(object):
     def delete_server_group(self, group_id):
         self.api_delete('/os-server-groups/%s' % group_id)
 
-    def get_instance_actions(self, server_id):
+    def get_instance_actions(self, server_id, api_version=None):
         return self.api_get('/servers/%s/os-instance-actions' %
-                            (server_id)).body['instanceActions']
+                            (server_id), api_version).body['instanceActions']
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-action-get-resp.json.tpl b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-action-get-resp.json.tpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7cd532523906
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-action-get-resp.json.tpl
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+    "instanceAction": {
+            "action": "%(action)s",
+            "instance_uuid": "%(instance_uuid)s",
+            "request_id": "%(request_id)s",
+            "user_id": "%(integer_id)s",
+            "project_id": "%(integer_id)s",
+            "start_time": "%(strtime)s",
+            "message": "",
+            "events": [
+                {
+                    "event": "%(event)s",
+                    "start_time": "%(strtime)s",
+                    "finish_time": "%(strtime)s",
+                    "result": "%(result)s",
+                    "traceback": ""
+                },
+                {
+                    "event": "%(event)s",
+                    "start_time": "%(strtime)s",
+                    "finish_time": "%(strtime)s",
+                    "result": "%(result)s",
+                    "traceback": ""
+                }
+            ]
+    }
+}
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-actions-list-resp.json.tpl b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-actions-list-resp.json.tpl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0fdc33916a80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/os-instance-actions/v2.21/instance-actions-list-resp.json.tpl
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{
+    "instanceActions": [
+        {
+            "action": "%(action)s",
+            "instance_uuid": "%(uuid)s",
+            "request_id": "%(request_id)s",
+            "user_id": "%(integer_id)s",
+            "project_id": "%(integer_id)s",
+            "start_time": "%(strtime)s",
+            "message": ""
+        },
+        {
+            "action": "%(action)s",
+            "instance_uuid": "%(uuid)s",
+            "request_id": "%(request_id)s",
+            "user_id": "%(integer_id)s",
+            "project_id": "%(integer_id)s",
+            "start_time": "%(strtime)s",
+            "message": ""
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/versions/v21-version-get-resp.json.tpl b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/versions/v21-version-get-resp.json.tpl
index c73b4f873cda..9c7dd41228d7 100644
--- a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/versions/v21-version-get-resp.json.tpl
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/versions/v21-version-get-resp.json.tpl
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
             }
         ],
         "status": "CURRENT",
-        "version": "2.20",
+        "version": "2.21",
         "min_version": "2.1",
         "updated": "2013-07-23T11:33:21Z"
     }
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/versions/versions-get-resp.json.tpl b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/versions/versions-get-resp.json.tpl
index 8a69527a551c..84f2620a6e4d 100644
--- a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/versions/versions-get-resp.json.tpl
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/api_samples/versions/versions-get-resp.json.tpl
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
                 }
             ],
             "status": "CURRENT",
-            "version": "2.20",
+            "version": "2.21",
             "min_version": "2.1",
             "updated": "2013-07-23T11:33:21Z"
         }
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/test_instance_actions.py b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/test_instance_actions.py
index 63f2fea4d5d0..25cbe241d989 100644
--- a/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/test_instance_actions.py
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/api_sample_tests/test_instance_actions.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ CONF.import_opt('osapi_compute_extension',
 
 
 class ServerActionsSampleJsonTest(api_sample_base.ApiSampleTestBaseV21):
+    microversion = None
     ADMIN_API = True
     extension_name = 'os-instance-actions'
 
@@ -39,6 +40,11 @@ class ServerActionsSampleJsonTest(api_sample_base.ApiSampleTestBaseV21):
                       'contrib.instance_actions.Instance_actions')
         return f
 
+    def _fake_get(self, context, instance_uuid, expected_attrs=None,
+                 want_objects=True):
+        return fake_instance.fake_instance_obj(
+            None, **{'uuid': instance_uuid})
+
     def setUp(self):
         super(ServerActionsSampleJsonTest, self).setUp()
         self.actions = fake_server_actions.FAKE_ACTIONS
@@ -58,11 +64,6 @@ class ServerActionsSampleJsonTest(api_sample_base.ApiSampleTestBaseV21):
         def fake_instance_get_by_uuid(context, instance_id):
             return self.instance
 
-        def fake_get(self, context, instance_uuid, expected_attrs=None,
-                     want_objects=True):
-            return fake_instance.fake_instance_obj(
-                None, **{'uuid': instance_uuid})
-
         self.stub_out('nova.db.action_get_by_request_id',
                       fake_instance_action_get_by_request_id)
         self.stub_out('nova.db.actions_get', fake_server_actions_get)
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ class ServerActionsSampleJsonTest(api_sample_base.ApiSampleTestBaseV21):
                       fake_instance_action_events_get)
         self.stub_out('nova.db.instance_get_by_uuid',
                       fake_instance_get_by_uuid)
-        self.stub_out('nova.compute.api.API.get', fake_get)
+        self.stub_out('nova.compute.api.API.get', self._fake_get)
 
     def test_instance_action_get(self):
         fake_uuid = fake_server_actions.FAKE_UUID
@@ -78,7 +79,8 @@ class ServerActionsSampleJsonTest(api_sample_base.ApiSampleTestBaseV21):
         fake_action = self.actions[fake_uuid][fake_request_id]
 
         response = self._do_get('servers/%s/os-instance-actions/%s' %
-                                (fake_uuid, fake_request_id))
+                                (fake_uuid, fake_request_id),
+                                api_version=self.microversion)
         subs = {}
         subs['action'] = '(reboot)|(resize)'
         subs['instance_uuid'] = fake_uuid
@@ -91,7 +93,8 @@ class ServerActionsSampleJsonTest(api_sample_base.ApiSampleTestBaseV21):
 
     def test_instance_actions_list(self):
         fake_uuid = fake_server_actions.FAKE_UUID
-        response = self._do_get('servers/%s/os-instance-actions' % (fake_uuid))
+        response = self._do_get('servers/%s/os-instance-actions' % (fake_uuid),
+                                api_version=self.microversion)
         subs = {}
         subs['action'] = '(reboot)|(resize)'
         subs['integer_id'] = '[0-9]+'
@@ -99,3 +102,14 @@ class ServerActionsSampleJsonTest(api_sample_base.ApiSampleTestBaseV21):
                               '-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}')
         self._verify_response('instance-actions-list-resp', subs,
                               response, 200)
+
+
+class ServerActionsV221SampleJsonTest(ServerActionsSampleJsonTest):
+    microversion = '2.21'
+    scenarios = [('v2_21', {'api_major_version': 'v2.1'})]
+
+    def _fake_get(self, context, instance_uuid, expected_attrs=None,
+                 want_objects=True):
+        self.assertEqual('yes', context.read_deleted)
+        return fake_instance.fake_instance_obj(
+            None, **{'uuid': instance_uuid})
diff --git a/nova/tests/functional/test_instance_actions.py b/nova/tests/functional/test_instance_actions.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..625f394cbd38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/tests/functional/test_instance_actions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# Copyright 2016 IBM Corp.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+from nova.tests.functional.api import client
+from nova.tests.functional import test_servers
+from nova.tests.unit import fake_network
+
+
+class InstanceActionsTestV2(test_servers.ServersTestBase):
+    """Tests Instance Actions API"""
+
+    def _create_server(self):
+        """Creates a minimal test server via the compute API
+
+        Ensures the server is created and can be retrieved from the compute API
+        and waits for it to be ACTIVE.
+
+        :returns: created server (dict)
+        """
+        # TODO(mriedem): We should pull this up into the parent class so we
+        # don't have so much copy/paste in these functional tests.
+        fake_network.set_stub_network_methods(self)
+
+        # Create a server
+        server = self._build_minimal_create_server_request()
+        created_server = self.api.post_server({'server': server})
+        self.assertTrue(created_server['id'])
+        created_server_id = created_server['id']
+
+        # Check it's there
+        found_server = self.api.get_server(created_server_id)
+        self.assertEqual(created_server_id, found_server['id'])
+
+        found_server = self._wait_for_state_change(found_server, 'BUILD')
+        # It should be available...
+        self.assertEqual('ACTIVE', found_server['status'])
+        return found_server
+
+    def test_get_instance_actions(self):
+        server = self._create_server()
+        actions = self.api.get_instance_actions(server['id'])
+        self.assertEqual('create', actions[0]['action'])
+
+    def test_get_instance_actions_deleted(self):
+        server = self._create_server()
+        self._delete_server(server['id'])
+        self.assertRaises(client.OpenStackApiNotFoundException,
+                          self.api.get_instance_actions,
+                          server['id'])
+
+
+class InstanceActionsTestV21(InstanceActionsTestV2):
+    api_major_version = 'v2.1'
+
+
+class InstanceActionsTestV221(InstanceActionsTestV21):
+    microversion = '2.21'
+
+    def test_get_instance_actions_deleted(self):
+        server = self._create_server()
+        self._delete_server(server['id'])
+        actions = self.api.get_instance_actions(server['id'],
+                                                api_version=self.microversion)
+        self.assertEqual('delete', actions[0]['action'])
+        self.assertEqual('create', actions[1]['action'])
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_instance_actions.py b/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_instance_actions.py
index 313fa9433bb7..220de4cec61d 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_instance_actions.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_instance_actions.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from webob import exc
 from nova.api.openstack.compute import instance_actions as instance_actions_v21
 from nova.api.openstack.compute.legacy_v2.contrib import instance_actions \
         as instance_actions_v2
+from nova.api.openstack import wsgi as os_wsgi
 from nova.compute import api as compute_api
 from nova.db.sqlalchemy import models
 from nova import exception
@@ -130,6 +131,11 @@ class InstanceActionsPolicyTestV2(InstanceActionsPolicyTestV21):
 
 class InstanceActionsTestV21(test.NoDBTestCase):
     instance_actions = instance_actions_v21
+    wsgi_api_version = os_wsgi.DEFAULT_API_VERSION
+
+    def fake_get(self, context, instance_uuid, expected_attrs=None,
+                     want_objects=False):
+        return objects.Instance(uuid=instance_uuid)
 
     def setUp(self):
         super(InstanceActionsTestV21, self).setUp()
@@ -137,22 +143,19 @@ class InstanceActionsTestV21(test.NoDBTestCase):
         self.fake_actions = copy.deepcopy(fake_server_actions.FAKE_ACTIONS)
         self.fake_events = copy.deepcopy(fake_server_actions.FAKE_EVENTS)
 
-        def fake_get(self, context, instance_uuid, expected_attrs=None,
-                     want_objects=False):
-            return objects.Instance(uuid=instance_uuid)
-
         def fake_instance_get_by_uuid(context, instance_id, use_slave=False):
             return fake_instance.fake_instance_obj(None,
                 **{'name': 'fake', 'project_id': context.project_id})
 
-        self.stubs.Set(compute_api.API, 'get', fake_get)
+        self.stubs.Set(compute_api.API, 'get', self.fake_get)
         self.stub_out('nova.db.instance_get_by_uuid',
                       fake_instance_get_by_uuid)
 
     def _get_http_req(self, action, use_admin_context=False):
         fake_url = '/123/servers/12/%s' % action
         return fakes.HTTPRequest.blank(fake_url,
-                                        use_admin_context=use_admin_context)
+                                       use_admin_context=use_admin_context,
+                                       version=self.wsgi_api_version)
 
     def _set_policy_rules(self):
         rules = {'compute:get': '',
@@ -246,6 +249,15 @@ class InstanceActionsTestV21(test.NoDBTestCase):
                           FAKE_UUID, 'fake')
 
 
+class InstanceActionsTestV221(InstanceActionsTestV21):
+    wsgi_api_version = "2.21"
+
+    def fake_get(self, context, instance_uuid, expected_attrs=None,
+                 want_objects=False):
+        self.assertEqual('yes', context.read_deleted)
+        return objects.Instance(uuid=instance_uuid)
+
+
 class InstanceActionsTestV2(InstanceActionsTestV21):
     instance_actions = instance_actions_v2
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_versions.py b/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_versions.py
index f94e4e003fca..7953e8ddc02f 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_versions.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/api/openstack/compute/test_versions.py
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ EXP_VERSIONS = {
     "v2.1": {
         "id": "v2.1",
         "status": "CURRENT",
-        "version": "2.20",
+        "version": "2.21",
         "min_version": "2.1",
         "updated": "2013-07-23T11:33:21Z",
         "links": [
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ class VersionsTestV20(test.NoDBTestCase):
             {
                 "id": "v2.1",
                 "status": "CURRENT",
-                "version": "2.20",
+                "version": "2.21",
                 "min_version": "2.1",
                 "updated": "2013-07-23T11:33:21Z",
                 "links": [
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/instance-actions-read-deleted-instances-18bbb327924b66c7.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/instance-actions-read-deleted-instances-18bbb327924b66c7.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1600076a6fb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/instance-actions-read-deleted-instances-18bbb327924b66c7.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+features:
+    - The os-instance-actions methods now read actions from deleted instances.
+      This means that
+      'GET /v2.1/{tenant-id}/servers/{server-id}/os-instance-actions'
+      and
+      'GET /v2.1/{tenant-id}/servers/{server-id}/os-instance-actions/{req-id}'
+      will return instance-action items even if the instance corresponding to
+      '{server-id}' has been deleted.