diff --git a/web3.js/examples/budget-timestamp.js b/web3.js/examples/budget-timestamp.js
index 9595383893..6331b606ac 100644
--- a/web3.js/examples/budget-timestamp.js
+++ b/web3.js/examples/budget-timestamp.js
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ function showBalance() {
 
 function confirmTransaction(signature) {
   console.log('Confirming transaction:', signature);
-  return connection.confirmTransaction(signature)
+  return connection.getSignatureStatus(signature)
   .then((confirmation) => {
-    if (!confirmation) {
-      throw new Error('Transaction was not confirmed');
+    if (confirmation !== 'Confirmed') {
+      throw new Error(`Transaction was not confirmed (${confirmation})`);
     }
     console.log('Transaction confirmed');
   });
diff --git a/web3.js/examples/budget-two-approvers.js b/web3.js/examples/budget-two-approvers.js
index e8e3d1baaa..2b595af455 100644
--- a/web3.js/examples/budget-two-approvers.js
+++ b/web3.js/examples/budget-two-approvers.js
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@ function showBalance() {
 
 function confirmTransaction(signature) {
   console.log('Confirming transaction:', signature);
-  return connection.confirmTransaction(signature)
+  return connection.getSignatureStatus(signature)
   .then((confirmation) => {
-    if (!confirmation) {
-      throw new Error('Transaction was not confirmed');
+    if (confirmation !== 'Confirmed') {
+      throw new Error(`Transaction was not confirmed (${confirmation})`);
     }
     console.log('Transaction confirmed');
   });
diff --git a/web3.js/package.json b/web3.js/package.json
index 9fa297e470..30b6255b23 100644
--- a/web3.js/package.json
+++ b/web3.js/package.json
@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@
     "build": "cross-env NODE_ENV=production rollup -c",
     "doc": "esdoc; node -p '\"\\nDocumentation coverage: \" + require(\"./doc/coverage.json\").coverage'",
     "doc:watch": "watch 'npm run doc' . --wait=1 --ignoreDirectoryPattern=/doc/",
-    "test": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test jest",
-    "test:live": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test DOITLIVE=1 jest",
-    "test:watch": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test jest --watch",
-    "test:cover": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test jest --coverage",
+    "test": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test jest --useStderr",
+    "test:live": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test DOITLIVE=1 jest --useStderr",
+    "test:watch": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test jest --watch --useStderr",
+    "test:cover": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test jest --coverage --useStderr",
     "codecov": "npm run test:cover && cat ./coverage/lcov.info | codecov",
     "flow": "flow-typed install jest@22 && flow",
     "flow:watch": "watch 'flow' . --wait=1 --ignoreDirectoryPattern=/doc/",
diff --git a/web3.js/src/connection.js b/web3.js/src/connection.js
index 9962e988da..cb9515901d 100644
--- a/web3.js/src/connection.js
+++ b/web3.js/src/connection.js
@@ -83,6 +83,21 @@ const ConfirmTransactionRpcResult = struct({
   result: 'boolean?',
 });
 
+/**
+ * Expected JSON RPC response for the "getSignatureStatus" message
+ */
+const GetSignatureStatusRpcResult = struct({
+  jsonrpc: struct.literal('2.0'),
+  id: 'string',
+  error: 'any?',
+  result: struct.optional(struct.enum([
+    'Confirmed',
+    'SignatureNotFound',
+    'ProgramRuntimeError',
+    'GenericFailure',
+  ])),
+});
+
 /**
  * Expected JSON RPC response for the "getTransactionCount" message
  */
@@ -147,6 +162,13 @@ type AccountInfo = {
   userdata: Buffer | null,
 }
 
+/**
+ * Possible signature status values
+ *
+ * @typedef {string} SignatureStatus
+ */
+type SignatureStatus = 'Confirmed' | 'SignatureNotFound' | 'ProgramRuntimeError' | 'GenericFailure';
+
 /**
  * A connection to a fullnode JSON RPC endpoint
  */
@@ -224,6 +246,20 @@ export class Connection {
     return res.result;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Fetch the current transaction count of the network
+   */
+  async getSignatureStatus(signature: TransactionSignature): Promise<SignatureStatus> {
+    const unsafeRes = await this._rpcRequest('getSignatureStatus', [signature]);
+    const res = GetSignatureStatusRpcResult(unsafeRes);
+    if (res.error) {
+      throw new Error(res.error.message);
+    }
+    assert(typeof res.result !== 'undefined');
+    return res.result;
+  }
+
+
   /**
    * Fetch the current transaction count of the network
    */
diff --git a/web3.js/test/connection.test.js b/web3.js/test/connection.test.js
index 5a8c6cbd1a..7480aa1839 100644
--- a/web3.js/test/connection.test.js
+++ b/web3.js/test/connection.test.js
@@ -90,8 +90,22 @@ test('confirm transaction - error', () => {
 
   expect(connection.confirmTransaction(badTransactionSignature))
   .rejects.toThrow(errorMessage);
+
+  mockRpc.push([
+    url,
+    {
+      method: 'getSignatureStatus',
+      params: [badTransactionSignature],
+    },
+    errorResponse,
+  ]
+  );
+
+  expect(connection.getSignatureStatus(badTransactionSignature))
+  .rejects.toThrow(errorMessage);
 });
 
+
 test('get transaction count', async () => {
   const connection = new Connection(url);
 
@@ -341,6 +355,22 @@ test('transaction', async () => {
   );
   expect(connection.confirmTransaction(signature)).resolves.toBe(true);
 
+  mockRpc.push([
+    url,
+    {
+      method: 'getSignatureStatus',
+      params: [
+        '3WE5w4B7v59x6qjyC4FbG2FEKYKQfvsJwqSxNVmtMjT8TQ31hsZieDHcSgqzxiAoTL56n2w5TncjqEKjLhtF4Vk'
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      error: null,
+      result: 'Confirmed',
+    }
+  ]
+  );
+  expect(connection.getSignatureStatus(signature)).resolves.toBe('Confirmed');
+
   mockRpc.push([
     url,
     {