diff --git a/ironic/common/exception.py b/ironic/common/exception.py
index ce7f4bd3d0..45672476ac 100644
--- a/ironic/common/exception.py
+++ b/ironic/common/exception.py
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@ class ImageRefIsARedirect(IronicException):
             redirect_url=redirect_url)
 
 
-class ConcurrentActionLimit(IronicException):
+class ConcurrentActionLimit(TemporaryFailure):
     # NOTE(TheJulia): We explicitly don't report the concurrent
     # action limit configuration value as a security guard since
     # if informed of the limit, an attacker can tailor their attack.
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/max_concurrent_deploy-7a31ba142bf5ad5c.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/max_concurrent_deploy-7a31ba142bf5ad5c.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..92cb2b5e0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/max_concurrent_deploy-7a31ba142bf5ad5c.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    When Ironic hits the limit on the number of the concurrent deploys
+    (specified in the ``[conductor]max_concurrent_deploy`` option), the
+    resulting HTTP code is now 503 instead of the more generic 500.