diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/snapshots/status/SnapshotStatus.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/snapshots/status/SnapshotStatus.java
index 79da77b89a6..b1d1f74682c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/snapshots/status/SnapshotStatus.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/snapshots/status/SnapshotStatus.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.Streamable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilderString;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -157,6 +158,20 @@ public class SnapshotStatus implements ToXContent, Streamable {
         return snapshotInfo;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        try {
+            XContentBuilder builder = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().prettyPrint();
+            builder.startObject();
+            toXContent(builder, EMPTY_PARAMS);
+            builder.endObject();
+            return builder.string();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            return "{ \"error\" : \"" + e.getMessage() + "\"}";
+        }
+    }
+
+
     /**
      * Returns number of files in the snapshot
      */
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/DedicatedClusterSnapshotRestoreTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/DedicatedClusterSnapshotRestoreTests.java
index ca18350c9ab..510c170727a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/DedicatedClusterSnapshotRestoreTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/snapshots/DedicatedClusterSnapshotRestoreTests.java
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.snapshots;
 
 import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.LifecycleScope;
+import com.google.common.base.Predicate;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import com.google.common.util.concurrent.ListenableFuture;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ListenableActionFuture;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.repositories.put.PutRepositoryResponse;
@@ -247,11 +249,37 @@ public class DedicatedClusterSnapshotRestoreTests extends AbstractSnapshotTests
 
         assertThat(createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().state(), equalTo(SnapshotState.FAILED));
 
-        createSnapshotResponse = client().admin().cluster().prepareCreateSnapshot("test-repo", "test-snap-2").setWaitForCompletion(true).setPartial(true).execute().actionGet();
-        logger.info("State: [{}], Reason: [{}]", createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().state(), createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().reason());
-        assertThat(createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().totalShards(), equalTo(12));
-        assertThat(createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().successfulShards(), lessThan(12));
-        assertThat(createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().successfulShards(), greaterThan(6));
+        if (randomBoolean()) {
+            logger.info("checking snapshot completion using status");
+            client().admin().cluster().prepareCreateSnapshot("test-repo", "test-snap-2").setWaitForCompletion(false).setPartial(true).execute().actionGet();
+            awaitBusy(new Predicate<Object>() {
+                @Override
+                public boolean apply(Object o) {
+                    SnapshotsStatusResponse snapshotsStatusResponse = client().admin().cluster().prepareSnapshotStatus("test-repo").setSnapshots("test-snap-2").get();
+                    ImmutableList<SnapshotStatus> snapshotStatuses = snapshotsStatusResponse.getSnapshots();
+                    if(snapshotStatuses.size() == 1) {
+                        logger.trace("current snapshot status [{}]", snapshotStatuses.get(0));
+                        return snapshotStatuses.get(0).getState().completed();
+                    }
+                    return false;
+                }
+            });
+            SnapshotsStatusResponse snapshotsStatusResponse = client().admin().cluster().prepareSnapshotStatus("test-repo").setSnapshots("test-snap-2").get();
+            ImmutableList<SnapshotStatus> snapshotStatuses = snapshotsStatusResponse.getSnapshots();
+            assertThat(snapshotStatuses.size(), equalTo(1));
+            SnapshotStatus snapshotStatus = snapshotStatuses.get(0);
+            logger.info("State: [{}], Reason: [{}]", createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().state(), createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().reason());
+            assertThat(snapshotStatus.getShardsStats().getTotalShards(), equalTo(12));
+            assertThat(snapshotStatus.getShardsStats().getDoneShards(), lessThan(12));
+            assertThat(snapshotStatus.getShardsStats().getDoneShards(), greaterThan(6));
+        } else {
+            logger.info("checking snapshot completion using wait_for_completion flag");
+            createSnapshotResponse = client().admin().cluster().prepareCreateSnapshot("test-repo", "test-snap-2").setWaitForCompletion(true).setPartial(true).execute().actionGet();
+            logger.info("State: [{}], Reason: [{}]", createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().state(), createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().reason());
+            assertThat(createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().totalShards(), equalTo(12));
+            assertThat(createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().successfulShards(), lessThan(12));
+            assertThat(createSnapshotResponse.getSnapshotInfo().successfulShards(), greaterThan(6));
+        }
         assertThat(client().admin().cluster().prepareGetSnapshots("test-repo").setSnapshots("test-snap-2").execute().actionGet().getSnapshots().get(0).state(), equalTo(SnapshotState.PARTIAL));
 
         assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareClose("test-idx-1", "test-idx-2").execute().actionGet());