diff --git a/ironic/drivers/modules/agent_base_vendor.py b/ironic/drivers/modules/agent_base_vendor.py
index 23add347ee..16a89b8ee5 100644
--- a/ironic/drivers/modules/agent_base_vendor.py
+++ b/ironic/drivers/modules/agent_base_vendor.py
@@ -290,7 +290,13 @@ class HeartbeatMixin(object):
                        'state': task.node.provision_state})
             return
 
-        task.upgrade_lock()
+        try:
+            task.upgrade_lock()
+        except exception.NodeLocked:
+            LOG.warning('Node %s is currently locked, skipping heartbeat '
+                        'processing (will retry on the next heartbeat)',
+                        task.node.uuid)
+            return
 
         node = task.node
         LOG.debug('Heartbeat from node %s', node.uuid)
diff --git a/ironic/tests/unit/drivers/modules/test_agent_base_vendor.py b/ironic/tests/unit/drivers/modules/test_agent_base_vendor.py
index 177002e3c4..b3c5cb3e1b 100644
--- a/ironic/tests/unit/drivers/modules/test_agent_base_vendor.py
+++ b/ironic/tests/unit/drivers/modules/test_agent_base_vendor.py
@@ -107,6 +107,33 @@ class HeartbeatMixinTest(AgentDeployMixinBaseTest):
             self.assertEqual(0, rti_mock.call_count)
             self.assertEqual(0, cd_mock.call_count)
 
+    @mock.patch('time.sleep', lambda _t: None)
+    @mock.patch.object(agent_base_vendor.HeartbeatMixin, 'continue_deploy',
+                       autospec=True)
+    @mock.patch.object(agent_base_vendor.HeartbeatMixin,
+                       'reboot_to_instance', autospec=True)
+    @mock.patch.object(agent_base_vendor, '_notify_conductor_resume_clean',
+                       autospec=True)
+    def test_heartbeat_with_reservation(self, ncrc_mock, rti_mock, cd_mock):
+        # NOTE(pas-ha) checking only for states that are not noop
+        for state in (states.DEPLOYWAIT, states.CLEANWAIT):
+            for m in (ncrc_mock, rti_mock, cd_mock):
+                m.reset_mock()
+            self.node.provision_state = state
+            self.node.reservation = 'localhost'
+            self.node.save()
+            old_drv_info = self.node.driver_internal_info.copy()
+            agent_url = 'url-%s' % state
+            with task_manager.acquire(self.context, self.node.uuid,
+                                      shared=True) as task:
+                self.deploy.heartbeat(task, agent_url, '3.2.0')
+                self.assertTrue(task.shared)
+                self.assertEqual(old_drv_info, task.node.driver_internal_info)
+                self.assertIsNone(task.node.last_error)
+            self.assertEqual(0, ncrc_mock.call_count)
+            self.assertEqual(0, rti_mock.call_count)
+            self.assertEqual(0, cd_mock.call_count)
+
     @mock.patch.object(agent_base_vendor.HeartbeatMixin, 'continue_deploy',
                        autospec=True)
     @mock.patch.object(agent_base_vendor.HeartbeatMixin,
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/heartbeat-locked-6e53b68337d5a258.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/heartbeat-locked-6e53b68337d5a258.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f84b3092b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/heartbeat-locked-6e53b68337d5a258.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    When a node is found to be locked when a heart beat arrives, no longer
+    records the error in node's ``last_error`` field, since it's not
+    an error in most cases.