diff --git a/internal/internal.go b/internal/internal.go
index 64cdbe50c..386527ba2 100644
--- a/internal/internal.go
+++ b/internal/internal.go
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ var (
 	// ParseServiceConfig is a function to parse JSON service configs into
 	// opaque data structures.
 	ParseServiceConfig func(sc string) (interface{}, error)
+	// StatusRawProto is exported by status/status.go. This func returns a
+	// pointer to the wrapped Status proto for a given status.Status without a
+	// call to proto.Clone(). The returned Status proto should not be mutated by
+	// the caller.
+	StatusRawProto interface{} // func (*status.Status) *spb.Status
 )
 
 // HealthChecker defines the signature of the client-side LB channel health checking function.
diff --git a/internal/testutils/status_equal.go b/internal/testutils/status_equal.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dfd647336
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/testutils/status_equal.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+ *
+ * Copyright 2019 gRPC authors.
+ *
+ * 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.
+ *
+ */
+
+package testutils
+
+import (
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
+)
+
+// StatusErrEqual returns true iff both err1 and err2 wrap status.Status errors
+// and their underlying status protos are equal.
+func StatusErrEqual(err1, err2 error) bool {
+	status1, ok := status.FromError(err1)
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+	status2, ok := status.FromError(err2)
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+	return proto.Equal(status1.Proto(), status2.Proto())
+}
diff --git a/internal/testutils/status_equal_test.go b/internal/testutils/status_equal_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b3b412ec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/testutils/status_equal_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/*
+ *
+ * Copyright 2019 gRPC authors.
+ *
+ * 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.
+ *
+ */
+
+package testutils
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	anypb "github.com/golang/protobuf/ptypes/any"
+	spb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc/status"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
+)
+
+var statusErr = status.ErrorProto(&spb.Status{
+	Code:    int32(codes.DataLoss),
+	Message: "error for testing",
+	Details: []*anypb.Any{{
+		TypeUrl: "url",
+		Value:   []byte{6, 0, 0, 6, 1, 3},
+	}},
+})
+
+func TestStatusErrEqual(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name      string
+		err1      error
+		err2      error
+		wantEqual bool
+	}{
+		{"nil errors", nil, nil, true},
+		{"equal OK status", status.New(codes.OK, "").Err(), status.New(codes.OK, "").Err(), true},
+		{"equal status errors", statusErr, statusErr, true},
+		{"different status errors", statusErr, status.New(codes.OK, "").Err(), false},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		if gotEqual := StatusErrEqual(test.err1, test.err2); gotEqual != test.wantEqual {
+			t.Errorf("%v: StatusErrEqual(%v, %v) = %v, want %v", test.name, test.err1, test.err2, gotEqual, test.wantEqual)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/transport/http2_server.go b/internal/transport/http2_server.go
index 435092e5c..0756a6b52 100644
--- a/internal/transport/http2_server.go
+++ b/internal/transport/http2_server.go
@@ -35,9 +35,11 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/net/http2"
 	"golang.org/x/net/http2/hpack"
 
+	spb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc/status"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/credentials"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/grpclog"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/channelz"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/grpcrand"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/keepalive"
@@ -55,6 +57,9 @@ var (
 	// ErrHeaderListSizeLimitViolation indicates that the header list size is larger
 	// than the limit set by peer.
 	ErrHeaderListSizeLimitViolation = errors.New("transport: trying to send header list size larger than the limit set by peer")
+	// statusRawProto is a function to get to the raw status proto wrapped in a
+	// status.Status without a proto.Clone().
+	statusRawProto = internal.StatusRawProto.(func(*status.Status) *spb.Status)
 )
 
 // http2Server implements the ServerTransport interface with HTTP2.
@@ -817,7 +822,7 @@ func (t *http2Server) WriteStatus(s *Stream, st *status.Status) error {
 	headerFields = append(headerFields, hpack.HeaderField{Name: "grpc-status", Value: strconv.Itoa(int(st.Code()))})
 	headerFields = append(headerFields, hpack.HeaderField{Name: "grpc-message", Value: encodeGrpcMessage(st.Message())})
 
-	if p := st.Proto(); p != nil && len(p.Details) > 0 {
+	if p := statusRawProto(st); p != nil && len(p.Details) > 0 {
 		stBytes, err := proto.Marshal(p)
 		if err != nil {
 			// TODO: return error instead, when callers are able to handle it.
diff --git a/internal/transport/transport_test.go b/internal/transport/transport_test.go
index ba4174d3c..8f58b393f 100644
--- a/internal/transport/transport_test.go
+++ b/internal/transport/transport_test.go
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"math"
 	"net"
-	"reflect"
 	"runtime"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -40,6 +39,7 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/leakcheck"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/syscall"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/testutils"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/keepalive"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
 )
@@ -1690,7 +1690,7 @@ func TestEncodingRequiredStatus(t *testing.T) {
 	if _, err := s.trReader.(*transportReader).Read(p); err != io.EOF {
 		t.Fatalf("Read got error %v, want %v", err, io.EOF)
 	}
-	if !reflect.DeepEqual(s.Status(), encodingTestStatus) {
+	if !testutils.StatusErrEqual(s.Status().Err(), encodingTestStatus.Err()) {
 		t.Fatalf("stream with status %v, want %v", s.Status(), encodingTestStatus)
 	}
 	ct.Close()
diff --git a/rpc_util_test.go b/rpc_util_test.go
index ee641f51a..2449c2381 100644
--- a/rpc_util_test.go
+++ b/rpc_util_test.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/encoding"
 	protoenc "google.golang.org/grpc/encoding/proto"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/testutils"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/transport"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
 	perfpb "google.golang.org/grpc/test/codec_perf"
@@ -182,10 +183,10 @@ func (s) TestToRPCErr(t *testing.T) {
 	} {
 		err := toRPCErr(test.errIn)
 		if _, ok := status.FromError(err); !ok {
-			t.Fatalf("toRPCErr{%v} returned type %T, want %T", test.errIn, err, status.Error(codes.Unknown, ""))
+			t.Errorf("toRPCErr{%v} returned type %T, want %T", test.errIn, err, status.Error)
 		}
-		if !reflect.DeepEqual(err, test.errOut) {
-			t.Fatalf("toRPCErr{%v} = %v \nwant %v", test.errIn, err, test.errOut)
+		if !testutils.StatusErrEqual(err, test.errOut) {
+			t.Errorf("toRPCErr{%v} = %v \nwant %v", test.errIn, err, test.errOut)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/status/status.go b/status/status.go
index ed36681bb..641c45c6f 100644
--- a/status/status.go
+++ b/status/status.go
@@ -36,8 +36,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/golang/protobuf/ptypes"
 	spb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc/status"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal"
 )
 
+func init() {
+	internal.StatusRawProto = statusRawProto
+}
+
+func statusRawProto(s *Status) *spb.Status { return s.s }
+
 // statusError is an alias of a status proto.  It implements error and Status,
 // and a nil statusError should never be returned by this package.
 type statusError spb.Status
diff --git a/status/status_test.go b/status/status_test.go
index 011cb0aea..b7db2d3d8 100644
--- a/status/status_test.go
+++ b/status/status_test.go
@@ -35,11 +35,25 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 )
 
+// errEqual is essentially a copy of testutils.StatusErrEqual(), to avoid a
+// cyclic dependency.
+func errEqual(err1, err2 error) bool {
+	status1, ok := FromError(err1)
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+	status2, ok := FromError(err2)
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+	return proto.Equal(status1.Proto(), status2.Proto())
+}
+
 func TestErrorsWithSameParameters(t *testing.T) {
 	const description = "some description"
 	e1 := Errorf(codes.AlreadyExists, description)
 	e2 := Errorf(codes.AlreadyExists, description)
-	if e1 == e2 || !reflect.DeepEqual(e1, e2) {
+	if e1 == e2 || !errEqual(e1, e2) {
 		t.Fatalf("Errors should be equivalent but unique - e1: %v, %v  e2: %p, %v", e1.(*statusError), e1, e2.(*statusError), e2)
 	}
 }
@@ -156,7 +170,7 @@ func TestFromErrorImplementsInterface(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("FromError(%v) = %v, %v; want <Code()=%s, Message()=%q, Err()!=nil>, true", err, s, ok, code, message)
 	}
 	pd := s.Proto().GetDetails()
-	if len(pd) != 1 || !reflect.DeepEqual(pd[0], details[0]) {
+	if len(pd) != 1 || !proto.Equal(pd[0], details[0]) {
 		t.Fatalf("s.Proto.GetDetails() = %v; want <Details()=%s>", pd, details)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/test/balancer_test.go b/test/balancer_test.go
index b01dd2b73..f877bfc00 100644
--- a/test/balancer_test.go
+++ b/test/balancer_test.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/credentials"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/grpclog"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/balancerload"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/internal/testutils"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/metadata"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/resolver"
 	testpb "google.golang.org/grpc/test/grpc_testing"
@@ -162,14 +163,14 @@ func testDoneInfo(t *testing.T, e env) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
 	wantErr := detailedError
-	if _, err := tc.EmptyCall(ctx, &testpb.Empty{}); !reflect.DeepEqual(err, wantErr) {
+	if _, err := tc.EmptyCall(ctx, &testpb.Empty{}); !testutils.StatusErrEqual(err, wantErr) {
 		t.Fatalf("TestService/EmptyCall(_, _) = _, %v, want _, %v", err, wantErr)
 	}
 	if _, err := tc.UnaryCall(ctx, &testpb.SimpleRequest{}); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("TestService.UnaryCall(%v, _, _, _) = _, %v; want _, <nil>", ctx, err)
 	}
 
-	if len(b.doneInfo) < 1 || !reflect.DeepEqual(b.doneInfo[0].Err, wantErr) {
+	if len(b.doneInfo) < 1 || !testutils.StatusErrEqual(b.doneInfo[0].Err, wantErr) {
 		t.Fatalf("b.doneInfo = %v; want b.doneInfo[0].Err = %v", b.doneInfo, wantErr)
 	}
 	if len(b.doneInfo) < 2 || !reflect.DeepEqual(b.doneInfo[1].Trailer, testTrailerMetadata) {
diff --git a/test/end2end_test.go b/test/end2end_test.go
index 70e60870d..a7f0fd470 100644
--- a/test/end2end_test.go
+++ b/test/end2end_test.go
@@ -2496,7 +2496,7 @@ func testHealthCheckOnFailure(t *testing.T, e env) {
 
 	cc := te.clientConn()
 	wantErr := status.Error(codes.DeadlineExceeded, "context deadline exceeded")
-	if _, err := healthCheck(0*time.Second, cc, "grpc.health.v1.Health"); !reflect.DeepEqual(err, wantErr) {
+	if _, err := healthCheck(0*time.Second, cc, "grpc.health.v1.Health"); !testutils.StatusErrEqual(err, wantErr) {
 		t.Fatalf("Health/Check(_, _) = _, %v, want _, error code %s", err, codes.DeadlineExceeded)
 	}
 	awaitNewConnLogOutput()
@@ -2517,7 +2517,7 @@ func testHealthCheckOff(t *testing.T, e env) {
 	te.startServer(&testServer{security: e.security})
 	defer te.tearDown()
 	want := status.Error(codes.Unimplemented, "unknown service grpc.health.v1.Health")
-	if _, err := healthCheck(1*time.Second, te.clientConn(), ""); !reflect.DeepEqual(err, want) {
+	if _, err := healthCheck(1*time.Second, te.clientConn(), ""); !testutils.StatusErrEqual(err, want) {
 		t.Fatalf("Health/Check(_, _) = _, %v, want _, %v", err, want)
 	}
 }
@@ -2791,7 +2791,7 @@ func testUnknownHandler(t *testing.T, e env, unknownHandler grpc.StreamHandler)
 	te.startServer(&testServer{security: e.security})
 	defer te.tearDown()
 	want := status.Error(codes.Unauthenticated, "user unauthenticated")
-	if _, err := healthCheck(1*time.Second, te.clientConn(), ""); !reflect.DeepEqual(err, want) {
+	if _, err := healthCheck(1*time.Second, te.clientConn(), ""); !testutils.StatusErrEqual(err, want) {
 		t.Fatalf("Health/Check(_, _) = _, %v, want _, %v", err, want)
 	}
 }
@@ -2818,7 +2818,7 @@ func testHealthCheckServingStatus(t *testing.T, e env) {
 		t.Fatalf("Got the serving status %v, want SERVING", out.Status)
 	}
 	wantErr := status.Error(codes.NotFound, "unknown service")
-	if _, err := healthCheck(1*time.Second, cc, "grpc.health.v1.Health"); !reflect.DeepEqual(err, wantErr) {
+	if _, err := healthCheck(1*time.Second, cc, "grpc.health.v1.Health"); !testutils.StatusErrEqual(err, wantErr) {
 		t.Fatalf("Health/Check(_, _) = _, %v, want _, error code %s", err, codes.NotFound)
 	}
 	hs.SetServingStatus("grpc.health.v1.Health", healthpb.HealthCheckResponse_SERVING)
@@ -2886,7 +2886,7 @@ func testFailedEmptyUnary(t *testing.T, e env) {
 
 	ctx := metadata.NewOutgoingContext(context.Background(), testMetadata)
 	wantErr := detailedError
-	if _, err := tc.EmptyCall(ctx, &testpb.Empty{}); !reflect.DeepEqual(err, wantErr) {
+	if _, err := tc.EmptyCall(ctx, &testpb.Empty{}); !testutils.StatusErrEqual(err, wantErr) {
 		t.Fatalf("TestService/EmptyCall(_, _) = _, %v, want _, %v", err, wantErr)
 	}
 }