diff --git a/Android.mk b/Android.mk
index 214e060..3057b30 100644
--- a/Android.mk
+++ b/Android.mk
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 LOCAL_SRC_FILES := \
 	HidlSupport.cpp \
 	IServiceManager.cpp \
-	Static.cpp
+	Static.cpp \
+	Status.cpp
 
 LOCAL_C_INCLUDES := $(LOCAL_PATH)/include
 LOCAL_MULTILIB := both
diff --git a/IServiceManager.cpp b/IServiceManager.cpp
index 477d1dd..fd0e485 100644
--- a/IServiceManager.cpp
+++ b/IServiceManager.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 #include <hidl/IServiceManager.h>
 #include <hidl/Static.h>
+#include <hidl/Status.h>
 
 #include <utils/Log.h>
 #include <hwbinder/IPCThreadState.h>
@@ -91,7 +92,13 @@
         version.writeToParcel(data);
         data.writeInt32(allowIsolated ? 1 : 0);
         status_t err = remote()->transact(ADD_SERVICE_TRANSACTION, data, &reply);
-        return err == NO_ERROR ? reply.readExceptionCode() : err;
+        if (err == NO_ERROR) {
+            Status status;
+            status.readFromParcel(reply);
+            return status.exceptionCode();
+        } else {
+            return err;
+        }
     }
 
     virtual Vector<String16> listServices()
diff --git a/Status.cpp b/Status.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a9f513
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Status.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#include <hidl/Status.h>
+
+namespace android {
+namespace hardware {
+
+Status Status::ok() {
+    return Status();
+}
+
+Status Status::fromExceptionCode(int32_t exceptionCode) {
+    return Status(exceptionCode, OK);
+}
+
+Status Status::fromExceptionCode(int32_t exceptionCode,
+                                 const String8& message) {
+    return Status(exceptionCode, OK, message);
+}
+
+Status Status::fromServiceSpecificError(int32_t serviceSpecificErrorCode) {
+    return Status(EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC, serviceSpecificErrorCode);
+}
+
+Status Status::fromServiceSpecificError(int32_t serviceSpecificErrorCode,
+                                        const String8& message) {
+    return Status(EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC, serviceSpecificErrorCode, message);
+}
+
+Status Status::fromStatusT(status_t status) {
+    Status ret;
+    ret.setFromStatusT(status);
+    return ret;
+}
+
+Status::Status(int32_t exceptionCode, int32_t errorCode)
+    : mException(exceptionCode),
+      mErrorCode(errorCode) {}
+
+Status::Status(int32_t exceptionCode, int32_t errorCode, const String8& message)
+    : mException(exceptionCode),
+      mErrorCode(errorCode),
+      mMessage(message) {}
+
+status_t Status::readFromParcel(const Parcel& parcel) {
+    status_t status = parcel.readInt32(&mException);
+    if (status != OK) {
+        setFromStatusT(status);
+        return status;
+    }
+
+    // Skip over fat response headers.  Not used (or propagated) in native code.
+    if (mException == EX_HAS_REPLY_HEADER) {
+        // Note that the header size includes the 4 byte size field.
+        const int32_t header_start = parcel.dataPosition();
+        int32_t header_size;
+        status = parcel.readInt32(&header_size);
+        if (status != OK) {
+            setFromStatusT(status);
+            return status;
+        }
+        parcel.setDataPosition(header_start + header_size);
+        // And fat response headers are currently only used when there are no
+        // exceptions, so act like there was no error.
+        mException = EX_NONE;
+    }
+
+    if (mException == EX_NONE) {
+        return status;
+    }
+
+    // The remote threw an exception.  Get the message back.
+    String16 message;
+    status = parcel.readString16(&message);
+    if (status != OK) {
+        setFromStatusT(status);
+        return status;
+    }
+    mMessage = String8(message);
+
+    if (mException == EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC) {
+        status = parcel.readInt32(&mErrorCode);
+    }
+    if (status != OK) {
+        setFromStatusT(status);
+        return status;
+    }
+
+    return status;
+}
+
+status_t Status::writeToParcel(Parcel* parcel) const {
+    // Something really bad has happened, and we're not going to even
+    // try returning rich error data.
+    if (mException == EX_TRANSACTION_FAILED) {
+        return mErrorCode;
+    }
+
+    status_t status = parcel->writeInt32(mException);
+    if (status != OK) { return status; }
+    if (mException == EX_NONE) {
+        // We have no more information to write.
+        return status;
+    }
+    status = parcel->writeString16(String16(mMessage));
+    if (mException != EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC) {
+        // We have no more information to write.
+        return status;
+    }
+    status = parcel->writeInt32(mErrorCode);
+    return status;
+}
+
+void Status::setException(int32_t ex, const String8& message) {
+    mException = ex;
+    mErrorCode = NO_ERROR;  // an exception, not a transaction failure.
+    mMessage.setTo(message);
+}
+
+void Status::setServiceSpecificError(int32_t errorCode, const String8& message) {
+    setException(EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC, message);
+    mErrorCode = errorCode;
+}
+
+void Status::setFromStatusT(status_t status) {
+    mException = (status == NO_ERROR) ? EX_NONE : EX_TRANSACTION_FAILED;
+    mErrorCode = status;
+    mMessage.clear();
+}
+
+String8 Status::toString8() const {
+    String8 ret;
+    if (mException == EX_NONE) {
+        ret.append("No error");
+    } else {
+        ret.appendFormat("Status(%d): '", mException);
+        if (mException == EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC ||
+            mException == EX_TRANSACTION_FAILED) {
+            ret.appendFormat("%d: ", mErrorCode);
+        }
+        ret.append(String8(mMessage));
+        ret.append("'");
+    }
+    return ret;
+}
+
+std::stringstream& operator<< (std::stringstream& stream, const Status& s) {
+    stream << s.toString8().string();
+    return stream;
+}
+
+}  // namespace hardware
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/include/hidl/Status.h b/include/hidl/Status.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa8f1b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/hidl/Status.h
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#ifndef ANDROID_HARDWARE_BINDER_STATUS_H
+#define ANDROID_HARDWARE_BINDER_STATUS_H
+
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <sstream>
+
+#include <hwbinder/Parcel.h>
+#include <utils/String8.h>
+#include <android-base/macros.h>
+
+namespace android {
+namespace hardware {
+
+// An object similar in function to a status_t except that it understands
+// how exceptions are encoded in the prefix of a Parcel. Used like:
+//
+//     Parcel data;
+//     Parcel reply;
+//     status_t status;
+//     binder::Status remote_exception;
+//     if ((status = data.writeInterfaceToken(interface_descriptor)) != OK ||
+//         (status = data.writeInt32(function_input)) != OK) {
+//         // We failed to write into the memory of our local parcel?
+//     }
+//     if ((status = remote()->transact(transaction, data, &reply)) != OK) {
+//        // Something has gone wrong in the binder driver or libbinder.
+//     }
+//     if ((status = remote_exception.readFromParcel(reply)) != OK) {
+//         // The remote didn't correctly write the exception header to the
+//         // reply.
+//     }
+//     if (!remote_exception.isOk()) {
+//         // The transaction went through correctly, but the remote reported an
+//         // exception during handling.
+//     }
+//
+class Status final {
+public:
+    // Keep the exception codes in sync with android/os/Parcel.java.
+    enum Exception {
+        EX_NONE = 0,
+        EX_SECURITY = -1,
+        EX_BAD_PARCELABLE = -2,
+        EX_ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT = -3,
+        EX_NULL_POINTER = -4,
+        EX_ILLEGAL_STATE = -5,
+        EX_NETWORK_MAIN_THREAD = -6,
+        EX_UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION = -7,
+        EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC = -8,
+
+        // This is special and Java specific; see Parcel.java.
+        EX_HAS_REPLY_HEADER = -128,
+        // This is special, and indicates to C++ binder proxies that the
+        // transaction has failed at a low level.
+        EX_TRANSACTION_FAILED = -129,
+    };
+
+    // A more readable alias for the default constructor.
+    static Status ok();
+    // Authors should explicitly pick whether their integer is:
+    //  - an exception code (EX_* above)
+    //  - service specific error code
+    //  - status_t
+    //
+    //  Prefer a generic exception code when possible, then a service specific
+    //  code, and finally a status_t for low level failures or legacy support.
+    //  Exception codes and service specific errors map to nicer exceptions for
+    //  Java clients.
+    static Status fromExceptionCode(int32_t exceptionCode);
+    static Status fromExceptionCode(int32_t exceptionCode,
+                                    const String8& message);
+    static Status fromServiceSpecificError(int32_t serviceSpecificErrorCode);
+    static Status fromServiceSpecificError(int32_t serviceSpecificErrorCode,
+                                           const String8& message);
+    static Status fromStatusT(status_t status);
+
+    Status() = default;
+    ~Status() = default;
+
+    // Status objects are copyable and contain just simple data.
+    Status(const Status& status) = default;
+    Status(Status&& status) = default;
+    Status& operator=(const Status& status) = default;
+
+    // Bear in mind that if the client or service is a Java endpoint, this
+    // is not the logic which will provide/interpret the data here.
+    status_t readFromParcel(const Parcel& parcel);
+    status_t writeToParcel(Parcel* parcel) const;
+
+    // Set one of the pre-defined exception types defined above.
+    void setException(int32_t ex, const String8& message);
+    // Set a service specific exception with error code.
+    void setServiceSpecificError(int32_t errorCode, const String8& message);
+    // Setting a |status| != OK causes generated code to return |status|
+    // from Binder transactions, rather than writing an exception into the
+    // reply Parcel.  This is the least preferable way of reporting errors.
+    void setFromStatusT(status_t status);
+
+    // Get information about an exception.
+    int32_t exceptionCode() const  { return mException; }
+    const String8& exceptionMessage() const { return mMessage; }
+    status_t transactionError() const {
+        return mException == EX_TRANSACTION_FAILED ? mErrorCode : OK;
+    }
+    int32_t serviceSpecificErrorCode() const {
+        return mException == EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC ? mErrorCode : 0;
+    }
+
+    bool isOk() const { return mException == EX_NONE; }
+
+    // For logging.
+    String8 toString8() const;
+
+private:
+    Status(int32_t exceptionCode, int32_t errorCode);
+    Status(int32_t exceptionCode, int32_t errorCode, const String8& message);
+
+    // If |mException| == EX_TRANSACTION_FAILED, generated code will return
+    // |mErrorCode| as the result of the transaction rather than write an
+    // exception to the reply parcel.
+    //
+    // Otherwise, we always write |mException| to the parcel.
+    // If |mException| !=  EX_NONE, we write |mMessage| as well.
+    // If |mException| == EX_SERVICE_SPECIFIC we write |mErrorCode| as well.
+    int32_t mException = EX_NONE;
+    int32_t mErrorCode = 0;
+    String8 mMessage;
+};  // class Status
+
+// For gtest output logging
+std::stringstream& operator<< (std::stringstream& stream, const Status& s);
+
+template<typename T> class Return {
+public:
+      T val;
+      Status status;
+public:
+      Return(T v) : val(v), status(Status::ok()) { }
+      Return(Status s) : status(s) {
+          // TODO(malchev): Spew a LOG error here
+      }
+      ~Return() {
+          // TODO(malchev): Assert that status isOk() if it hasn't been checked
+      }
+      operator T() { return val; }
+};
+
+}  // namespace hardware
+}  // namespace android
+
+#endif // ANDROID_HARDWARE_BINDER_STATUS_H