diff --git a/ironic/drivers/modules/agent_base.py b/ironic/drivers/modules/agent_base.py
index 8f5a4412a6..371b603a78 100644
--- a/ironic/drivers/modules/agent_base.py
+++ b/ironic/drivers/modules/agent_base.py
@@ -1335,20 +1335,11 @@ class AgentDeployMixin(HeartbeatMixin, AgentOobStepsMixin):
                 software_raid=software_raid
             )
             if result['command_status'] == 'FAILED':
-                if not whole_disk_image:
-                    msg = (_("Failed to install a bootloader when "
-                             "deploying node %(node)s. Error: %(error)s") %
-                           {'node': node.uuid,
-                            'error': agent_client.get_command_error(result)})
-                    log_and_raise_deployment_error(task, msg)
-                else:
-                    # Its possible the install will fail if the IPA image
-                    # has not been updated, log this and continue
-                    LOG.info('Could not install bootloader for whole disk '
-                             'image for node %(node)s, Error: %(error)s"',
-                             {'node': node.uuid,
-                              'error': agent_client.get_command_error(result)})
-                    return
+                msg = (_("Failed to install a bootloader when "
+                         "deploying node %(node)s. Error: %(error)s") %
+                       {'node': node.uuid,
+                        'error': agent_client.get_command_error(result)})
+                log_and_raise_deployment_error(task, msg)
 
         try:
             persistent = True
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/bootloader-install-fatal-6f1b9fed1d2c0ee4.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/bootloader-install-fatal-6f1b9fed1d2c0ee4.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..786bf0cea6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/bootloader-install-fatal-6f1b9fed1d2c0ee4.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    Bootloader installation failures are now fatal for whole disk images.
+    Previously these failures were ignored to facilitate backwards
+    compatibility with older Ironic Python Agents, however we can now rely on
+    having a sufficiently modern IPA.