diff --git a/google/cloud/spanner_v1/instance.py b/google/cloud/spanner_v1/instance.py
index be49dd2d84..f6f96c0f9f 100644
--- a/google/cloud/spanner_v1/instance.py
+++ b/google/cloud/spanner_v1/instance.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 """User friendly container for Cloud Spanner Instance."""
 
+import google.api_core.operation
 import re
 
 from google.cloud.spanner_admin_instance_v1 import Instance as InstancePB
@@ -465,7 +466,7 @@ def list_backup_operations(self, filter_="", page_size=None):
         page_iter = self._client.database_admin_api.list_backup_operations(
             request=request, metadata=metadata
         )
-        return page_iter
+        return map(self._item_to_operation, page_iter)
 
     def list_database_operations(self, filter_="", page_size=None):
         """List database operations for the instance.
@@ -493,4 +494,18 @@ def list_database_operations(self, filter_="", page_size=None):
         page_iter = self._client.database_admin_api.list_database_operations(
             request=request, metadata=metadata
         )
-        return page_iter
+        return map(self._item_to_operation, page_iter)
+
+    def _item_to_operation(self, operation_pb):
+        """Convert an operation protobuf to the native object.
+        :type operation_pb: :class:`~google.longrunning.operations.Operation`
+        :param operation_pb: An operation returned from the API.
+        :rtype: :class:`~google.api_core.operation.Operation`
+        :returns: The next operation in the page.
+        """
+        operations_client = self._client.database_admin_api.transport.operations_client
+        metadata_type = _type_string_to_type_pb(operation_pb.metadata.type_url)
+        response_type = _OPERATION_RESPONSE_TYPES[metadata_type]
+        return google.api_core.operation.from_gapic(
+            operation_pb, operations_client, response_type, metadata_type=metadata_type
+        )
diff --git a/samples/samples/backup_sample_test.py b/samples/samples/backup_sample_test.py
index 7a95f1d5cc..8d73c8acf1 100644
--- a/samples/samples/backup_sample_test.py
+++ b/samples/samples/backup_sample_test.py
@@ -79,12 +79,6 @@ def test_restore_database(capsys):
     assert BACKUP_ID in out
 
 
-@pytest.mark.skip(
-    reason=(
-        "failing due to a production bug"
-        "https://github.com/googleapis/python-spanner/issues/149"
-    )
-)
 def test_list_backup_operations(capsys, spanner_instance):
     backup_sample.list_backup_operations(INSTANCE_ID, DATABASE_ID)
     out, _ = capsys.readouterr()