diff --git a/grpclb/src/main/java/io/grpc/grpclb/GrpclbState.java b/grpclb/src/main/java/io/grpc/grpclb/GrpclbState.java
index d940fc8832..85f7d6b766 100644
--- a/grpclb/src/main/java/io/grpc/grpclb/GrpclbState.java
+++ b/grpclb/src/main/java/io/grpc/grpclb/GrpclbState.java
@@ -91,6 +91,9 @@ final class GrpclbState {
   @VisibleForTesting
   static final PickResult DROP_PICK_RESULT =
       PickResult.withDrop(Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("Dropped as requested by balancer"));
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  static final Status NO_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS_STATUS =
+      Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription("LoadBalancer responded without any backends");
 
   @VisibleForTesting
   static final RoundRobinEntry BUFFER_ENTRY = new RoundRobinEntry() {
@@ -742,7 +745,8 @@ final class GrpclbState {
         if (backendList.isEmpty()) {
           if (lbSentEmptyBackends) {
             pickList =
-                Collections.<RoundRobinEntry>singletonList(new ErrorEntry(Status.UNAVAILABLE));
+                Collections.<RoundRobinEntry>singletonList(
+                    new ErrorEntry(NO_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS_STATUS));
             state = TRANSIENT_FAILURE;
           } else {
             pickList = Collections.singletonList(BUFFER_ENTRY);
diff --git a/grpclb/src/test/java/io/grpc/grpclb/GrpclbLoadBalancerTest.java b/grpclb/src/test/java/io/grpc/grpclb/GrpclbLoadBalancerTest.java
index 53b9d0093e..2a07d2786c 100644
--- a/grpclb/src/test/java/io/grpc/grpclb/GrpclbLoadBalancerTest.java
+++ b/grpclb/src/test/java/io/grpc/grpclb/GrpclbLoadBalancerTest.java
@@ -1939,7 +1939,8 @@ public class GrpclbLoadBalancerTest {
 
     inOrder.verify(helper).updateBalancingState(eq(TRANSIENT_FAILURE), pickerCaptor.capture());
     RoundRobinPicker errorPicker = (RoundRobinPicker) pickerCaptor.getValue();
-    assertThat(errorPicker.pickList).containsExactly(new ErrorEntry(Status.UNAVAILABLE));
+    assertThat(errorPicker.pickList)
+        .containsExactly(new ErrorEntry(GrpclbState.NO_AVAILABLE_BACKENDS_STATUS));
 
     lbResponseObserver.onNext(buildLbResponse(Collections.<ServerEntry>emptyList()));