diff --git a/doc/notification_samples/flavor-delete.json b/doc/notification_samples/flavor-delete.json
index 5b7b3e7cafcd..1cad9c1f004e 100644
--- a/doc/notification_samples/flavor-delete.json
+++ b/doc/notification_samples/flavor-delete.json
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
             "vcpu_weight": 0,
             "flavorid": "a22d5517-147c-4147-a0d1-e698df5cd4e3",
             "extra_specs": null,
-            "projects": []
+            "projects": null
         }
     },
     "event_type": "flavor.delete",
diff --git a/nova/objects/flavor.py b/nova/objects/flavor.py
index 1d95948cf085..f8c1bb570b12 100644
--- a/nova/objects/flavor.py
+++ b/nova/objects/flavor.py
@@ -614,7 +614,12 @@ class Flavor(base.NovaPersistentObject, base.NovaObject,
         # lazy-load projects (which is a problem for instance-bound
         # flavors and compute-cell operations), just load them here.
         if 'projects' not in self:
-            self._load_projects()
+            # If the flavor is deleted we can't lazy-load projects.
+            # FlavorPayload will orphan the flavor which will make the
+            # NotificationPayloadBase set projects=None in the notification
+            # payload.
+            if action != fields.NotificationAction.DELETE:
+                self._load_projects()
         notification_type = flavor_notification.FlavorNotification
         payload_type = flavor_notification.FlavorPayload
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/notifications/objects/test_flavor.py b/nova/tests/unit/notifications/objects/test_flavor.py
index 7fbaaa4106f0..95ee1b4a8063 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/notifications/objects/test_flavor.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/notifications/objects/test_flavor.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ from nova.objects import fields
 from nova import test
 from nova.tests.unit.objects.test_flavor import fake_flavor
 
+PROJECTS_SENTINEL = object()
+
 
 class TestFlavorNotification(test.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
@@ -29,7 +31,8 @@ class TestFlavorNotification(test.TestCase):
 
     @mock.patch('nova.notifications.objects.flavor.FlavorNotification')
     def _verify_notification(self, flavor_obj, flavor, action,
-                             mock_notification, project_id=None):
+                             mock_notification, project_id=None,
+                             expected_projects=PROJECTS_SENTINEL):
         notification = mock_notification
         if action == "CREATE":
             flavor_obj.create()
@@ -61,8 +64,12 @@ class TestFlavorNotification(test.TestCase):
 
         schema = flavor_notification.FlavorPayload.SCHEMA
         for field in schema:
-            if field in flavor:
-                self.assertEqual(flavor[field], getattr(payload, field))
+            if field == 'projects' and expected_projects != PROJECTS_SENTINEL:
+                self.assertEqual(expected_projects, getattr(payload, field))
+            elif field in flavor_obj:
+                self.assertEqual(flavor_obj[field], getattr(payload, field))
+            else:
+                self.fail('Missing check for field %s in flavor_obj.' % field)
 
     @mock.patch('nova.objects.Flavor._flavor_create')
     def test_flavor_create_with_notification(self, mock_create):
@@ -117,6 +124,26 @@ class TestFlavorNotification(test.TestCase):
         mock_destroy.return_value = flavor
         flavor_obj = objects.Flavor(context=self.ctxt, **flavor)
         flavor_obj.obj_reset_changes()
+        self.assertNotIn('projects', flavor_obj)
+        # We specifically expect there to not be any projects as we don't want
+        # to try and lazy-load them from the main database and end up with [].
+        self._verify_notification(flavor_obj, flavor, "DELETE",
+                                  expected_projects=None)
+
+    @mock.patch('nova.objects.Flavor._flavor_destroy')
+    def test_flavor_destroy_with_notification_and_projects(self, mock_destroy):
+        """Tests the flavor-delete notification with flavor.projects loaded."""
+        flavor = copy.deepcopy(fake_flavor)
+        flavorid = '1'
+        flavor['flavorid'] = flavorid
+        flavor['id'] = flavorid
+        mock_destroy.return_value = flavor
+        flavor_obj = objects.Flavor(
+            context=self.ctxt, projects=['foo'], **flavor)
+        flavor_obj.obj_reset_changes()
+        self.assertIn('projects', flavor_obj)
+        self.assertEqual(['foo'], flavor_obj.projects)
+        # Since projects is loaded we shouldn't try to lazy-load it.
         self._verify_notification(flavor_obj, flavor, "DELETE")
 
     def test_obj_make_compatible(self):