diff --git a/src/ng/http.js b/src/ng/http.js
index a7a15d7e982b..0c86a0b7fe4b 100644
--- a/src/ng/http.js
+++ b/src/ng/http.js
@@ -571,6 +571,7 @@ function $HttpProvider() {
      *   - **status** – `{number}` – HTTP status code of the response.
      *   - **headers** – `{function([headerName])}` – Header getter function.
      *   - **config** – `{Object}` – The configuration object that was used to generate the request.
+     *   - **statusText** – `{string}` – HTTP status text of the response.
      *
      * @property {Array.<Object>} pendingRequests Array of config objects for currently pending
      *   requests. This is primarily meant to be used for debugging purposes.
@@ -945,9 +946,9 @@ function $HttpProvider() {
           } else {
             // serving from cache
             if (isArray(cachedResp)) {
-              resolvePromise(cachedResp[1], cachedResp[0], copy(cachedResp[2]));
+              resolvePromise(cachedResp[1], cachedResp[0], copy(cachedResp[2]), cachedResp[3]);
             } else {
-              resolvePromise(cachedResp, 200, {});
+              resolvePromise(cachedResp, 200, {}, 'OK');
             }
           }
         } else {
@@ -971,17 +972,17 @@ function $HttpProvider() {
        *  - resolves the raw $http promise
        *  - calls $apply
        */
-      function done(status, response, headersString) {
+      function done(status, response, headersString, statusText) {
         if (cache) {
           if (isSuccess(status)) {
-            cache.put(url, [status, response, parseHeaders(headersString)]);
+            cache.put(url, [status, response, parseHeaders(headersString), statusText]);
           } else {
             // remove promise from the cache
             cache.remove(url);
           }
         }
 
-        resolvePromise(response, status, headersString);
+        resolvePromise(response, status, headersString, statusText);
         if (!$rootScope.$$phase) $rootScope.$apply();
       }
 
@@ -989,7 +990,7 @@ function $HttpProvider() {
       /**
        * Resolves the raw $http promise.
        */
-      function resolvePromise(response, status, headers) {
+      function resolvePromise(response, status, headers, statusText) {
         // normalize internal statuses to 0
         status = Math.max(status, 0);
 
@@ -997,7 +998,8 @@ function $HttpProvider() {
           data: response,
           status: status,
           headers: headersGetter(headers),
-          config: config
+          config: config,
+          statusText : statusText
         });
       }
 
diff --git a/src/ng/httpBackend.js b/src/ng/httpBackend.js
index 9b2d7361e057..81f5fb8bf69d 100644
--- a/src/ng/httpBackend.js
+++ b/src/ng/httpBackend.js
@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@ function createHttpBackend($browser, createXhr, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDoc
           completeRequest(callback,
               status || xhr.status,
               response,
-              responseHeaders);
+              responseHeaders,
+              xhr.statusText || '');
         }
       };
 
@@ -135,7 +136,7 @@ function createHttpBackend($browser, createXhr, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDoc
       xhr && xhr.abort();
     }
 
-    function completeRequest(callback, status, response, headersString) {
+    function completeRequest(callback, status, response, headersString, statusText) {
       // cancel timeout and subsequent timeout promise resolution
       timeoutId && $browserDefer.cancel(timeoutId);
       jsonpDone = xhr = null;
@@ -148,9 +149,10 @@ function createHttpBackend($browser, createXhr, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDoc
       }
 
       // normalize IE bug (http://bugs.jquery.com/ticket/1450)
-      status = status == 1223 ? 204 : status;
+      status = status === 1223 ? 204 : status;
+      statusText = statusText || '';
 
-      callback(status, response, headersString);
+      callback(status, response, headersString, statusText);
       $browser.$$completeOutstandingRequest(noop);
     }
   };
diff --git a/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js b/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
index 02e5432961ca..954183dd73f3 100644
--- a/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
+++ b/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
@@ -1090,12 +1090,12 @@ function createHttpBackendMock($rootScope, $delegate, $browser) {
       responsesPush = angular.bind(responses, responses.push),
       copy = angular.copy;
 
-  function createResponse(status, data, headers) {
+  function createResponse(status, data, headers, statusText) {
     if (angular.isFunction(status)) return status;
 
     return function() {
       return angular.isNumber(status)
-          ? [status, data, headers]
+          ? [status, data, headers, statusText]
           : [200, status, data];
     };
   }
@@ -1120,7 +1120,8 @@ function createHttpBackendMock($rootScope, $delegate, $browser) {
       function handleResponse() {
         var response = wrapped.response(method, url, data, headers);
         xhr.$$respHeaders = response[2];
-        callback(copy(response[0]), copy(response[1]), xhr.getAllResponseHeaders());
+        callback(copy(response[0]), copy(response[1]), xhr.getAllResponseHeaders(),
+                 copy(response[3] || ''));
       }
 
       function handleTimeout() {
@@ -1188,16 +1189,17 @@ function createHttpBackendMock($rootScope, $delegate, $browser) {
    *   request is handled.
    *
    *  - respond –
-   *      `{function([status,] data[, headers])|function(function(method, url, data, headers)}`
-   *    – The respond method takes a set of static data to be returned or a function that can return
-   *    an array containing response status (number), response data (string) and response headers
-   *    (Object).
+   *      `{function([status,] data[, headers, statusText])
+   *      | function(function(method, url, data, headers)}`
+   *    – The respond method takes a set of static data to be returned or a function that can
+   *    return an array containing response status (number), response data (string), response
+   *    headers (Object), and the text for the status (string).
    */
   $httpBackend.when = function(method, url, data, headers) {
     var definition = new MockHttpExpectation(method, url, data, headers),
         chain = {
-          respond: function(status, data, headers) {
-            definition.response = createResponse(status, data, headers);
+          respond: function(status, data, headers, statusText) {
+            definition.response = createResponse(status, data, headers, statusText);
           }
         };
 
@@ -1312,17 +1314,18 @@ function createHttpBackendMock($rootScope, $delegate, $browser) {
    *  request is handled.
    *
    *  - respond –
-   *    `{function([status,] data[, headers])|function(function(method, url, data, headers)}`
-   *    – The respond method takes a set of static data to be returned or a function that can return
-   *    an array containing response status (number), response data (string) and response headers
-   *    (Object).
+   *    `{function([status,] data[, headers, statusText])
+   *    | function(function(method, url, data, headers)}`
+   *    – The respond method takes a set of static data to be returned or a function that can
+   *    return an array containing response status (number), response data (string), response
+   *    headers (Object), and the text for the status (string).
    */
   $httpBackend.expect = function(method, url, data, headers) {
     var expectation = new MockHttpExpectation(method, url, data, headers);
     expectations.push(expectation);
     return {
-      respond: function(status, data, headers) {
-        expectation.response = createResponse(status, data, headers);
+      respond: function (status, data, headers, statusText) {
+        expectation.response = createResponse(status, data, headers, statusText);
       }
     };
   };
@@ -1833,13 +1836,14 @@ angular.module('ngMockE2E', ['ng']).config(['$provide', function($provide) {
  *   control how a matched request is handled.
  *
  *  - respond –
- *    `{function([status,] data[, headers])|function(function(method, url, data, headers)}`
+ *    `{function([status,] data[, headers, statusText])
+ *    | function(function(method, url, data, headers)}`
  *    – The respond method takes a set of static data to be returned or a function that can return
- *    an array containing response status (number), response data (string) and response headers
- *    (Object).
- *  - passThrough – `{function()}` – Any request matching a backend definition with `passThrough`
- *    handler will be passed through to the real backend (an XHR request will be made to the
- *    server.)
+ *    an array containing response status (number), response data (string), response headers
+ *    (Object), and the text for the status (string).
+ *  - passThrough – `{function()}` – Any request matching a backend definition with
+ *    `passThrough` handler will be passed through to the real backend (an XHR request will be made
+ *    to the server.)
  */
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js b/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
index 837fbab9967a..a179a7fd8f7c 100644
--- a/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
@@ -76,6 +76,32 @@ describe('$httpBackend', function() {
     expect(xhr.$$data).toBe(null);
   });
 
+  it('should call completion function with xhr.statusText if present', function() {
+    callback.andCallFake(function(status, response, headers, statusText) {
+      expect(statusText).toBe('OK');
+    });
+
+    $backend('GET', '/some-url', null, callback);
+    xhr = MockXhr.$$lastInstance;
+    xhr.statusText = 'OK';
+    xhr.readyState = 4;
+    xhr.onreadystatechange();
+    expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  });
+
+  it('should call completion function with empty string if not present', function() {
+    callback.andCallFake(function(status, response, headers, statusText) {
+      expect(statusText).toBe('');
+    });
+
+    $backend('GET', '/some-url', null, callback);
+    xhr = MockXhr.$$lastInstance;
+    xhr.readyState = 4;
+    xhr.onreadystatechange();
+    expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+  });
+
+
   it('should normalize IE\'s 1223 status code into 204', function() {
     callback.andCallFake(function(status) {
       expect(status).toBe(204);
diff --git a/test/ng/httpSpec.js b/test/ng/httpSpec.js
index 86ab72ea8bd8..b00738720a42 100644
--- a/test/ng/httpSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/httpSpec.js
@@ -481,6 +481,30 @@ describe('$http', function() {
       });
 
 
+      it('should pass statusText in response object when a request is successful', function() {
+        $httpBackend.expect('GET', '/url').respond(200, 'SUCCESS');
+        $http({url: '/url', method: 'GET'}).then(function(response) {
+          expect(response.statusText).toBe('');
+          callback();
+        });
+
+        $httpBackend.flush();
+        expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      });
+
+
+      it('should pass statusText in response object when a request fails', function() {
+        $httpBackend.expect('GET', '/url').respond(404, 'ERROR');
+        $http({url: '/url', method: 'GET'}).then(null, function(response) {
+          expect(response.statusText).toBe('');
+          callback();
+        });
+
+        $httpBackend.flush();
+        expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+      });
+
+
       it('should pass in the response object when a request failed', function() {
         $httpBackend.expect('GET', '/url').respond(543, 'bad error', {'request-id': '123'});
         $http({url: '/url', method: 'GET'}).then(null, function(response) {
diff --git a/test/ngMock/angular-mocksSpec.js b/test/ngMock/angular-mocksSpec.js
index 33c8f34aa512..4c9a4f49d207 100644
--- a/test/ngMock/angular-mocksSpec.js
+++ b/test/ngMock/angular-mocksSpec.js
@@ -1068,29 +1068,29 @@ describe('ngMock', function() {
       hb.flush();
 
       expect(callback.callCount).toBe(2);
-      expect(callback.argsForCall[0]).toEqual([201, 'second', '']);
-      expect(callback.argsForCall[1]).toEqual([200, 'first', '']);
+      expect(callback.argsForCall[0]).toEqual([201, 'second', '', '']);
+      expect(callback.argsForCall[1]).toEqual([200, 'first', '', '']);
     });
 
 
     describe('respond()', function() {
       it('should take values', function() {
-        hb.expect('GET', '/url1').respond(200, 'first', {'header': 'val'});
+        hb.expect('GET', '/url1').respond(200, 'first', {'header': 'val'}, 'OK');
         hb('GET', '/url1', undefined, callback);
         hb.flush();
 
-        expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnceWith(200, 'first', 'header: val');
+        expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnceWith(200, 'first', 'header: val', 'OK');
       });
 
       it('should take function', function() {
-        hb.expect('GET', '/some').respond(function(m, u, d, h) {
-          return [301, m + u + ';' + d + ';a=' + h.a, {'Connection': 'keep-alive'}];
+        hb.expect('GET', '/some').respond(function (m, u, d, h) {
+          return [301, m + u + ';' + d + ';a=' + h.a, {'Connection': 'keep-alive'}, 'Moved Permanently'];
         });
 
         hb('GET', '/some', 'data', callback, {a: 'b'});
         hb.flush();
 
-        expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnceWith(301, 'GET/some;data;a=b', 'Connection: keep-alive');
+        expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnceWith(301, 'GET/some;data;a=b', 'Connection: keep-alive', 'Moved Permanently');
       });
 
       it('should default status code to 200', function() {
@@ -1119,8 +1119,8 @@ describe('ngMock', function() {
         hb.flush();
 
         expect(callback.callCount).toBe(2);
-        expect(callback.argsForCall[0]).toEqual([200, 'first', '']);
-        expect(callback.argsForCall[1]).toEqual([200, 'second', '']);
+        expect(callback.argsForCall[0]).toEqual([200, 'first', '', '']);
+        expect(callback.argsForCall[1]).toEqual([200, 'second', '', '']);
       });
     });
 
@@ -1415,7 +1415,7 @@ describe('ngMock', function() {
             hb[shortcut]('/foo').respond('bar');
             hb(method, '/foo', undefined, callback);
             hb.flush();
-            expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnceWith(200, 'bar', '');
+            expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnceWith(200, 'bar', '', '');
           });
         });
       });