diff --git a/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility/commands/utility/WebCmdlet/CoreCLR/WebRequestPSCmdlet.CoreClr.cs b/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility/commands/utility/WebCmdlet/CoreCLR/WebRequestPSCmdlet.CoreClr.cs
index 2797f92cc59..8bc9ad0e36e 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility/commands/utility/WebCmdlet/CoreCLR/WebRequestPSCmdlet.CoreClr.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility/commands/utility/WebCmdlet/CoreCLR/WebRequestPSCmdlet.CoreClr.cs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 using System.Security.Cryptography;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Xml;
+using Microsoft.PowerShell.CoreClr.Stubs;
 
 namespace Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands
 {
@@ -347,7 +348,10 @@ protected override void ProcessRecord()
                         WriteVerbose(reqVerboseMsg);
 
                         HttpResponseMessage response = GetResponse(client, request);
-                        response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
+                        if (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
+                        {
+                            ThrowNotSuccessStatusCodeError(request, response);
+                        }
 
                         string contentType = ContentHelper.GetContentType(response);
                         string respVerboseMsg = string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
@@ -408,6 +412,34 @@ protected override void StopProcessing()
 
         #region Helper Methods
 
+        private void ThrowNotSuccessStatusCodeError(HttpRequestMessage request, HttpResponseMessage response)
+        {
+            var detailMsg = "";
+            var reader = new StreamReader(StreamHelper.GetResponseStream(response));
+            try
+            {
+                detailMsg = reader.ReadToEnd();
+            }
+            catch (IOException)
+            {
+            }
+            catch (ArgumentException)
+            {
+            }
+            finally
+            {
+                reader.Dispose();
+            }
+
+            var msg = string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, WebCmdletStrings.NotSuccessStatusCode, (int) response.StatusCode, response.ReasonPhrase);
+            ErrorRecord er = new ErrorRecord(new WebException(msg) { Response = response }, "WebCmdletWebResponseException", ErrorCategory.InvalidOperation, request);
+            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(detailMsg))
+            {
+                er.ErrorDetails = new ErrorDetails(detailMsg);
+            }
+            ThrowTerminatingError(er);
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Sets the ContentLength property of the request and writes the specified content to the request's RequestStream.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility/resources/WebCmdletStrings.resx b/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility/resources/WebCmdletStrings.resx
index 368e34ad7be..c09782e061b 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility/resources/WebCmdletStrings.resx
+++ b/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility/resources/WebCmdletStrings.resx
@@ -210,4 +210,7 @@
   <data name="JsonDeserializationFailed" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Conversion from JSON failed with error: {0}</value>
   </data>
+  <data name="NotSuccessStatusCode" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>The remote server returned an error: ({0}) {1}.</value>
+  </data>
 </root>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsStub.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsStub.cs
index 662356ccf40..e45da35dc08 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsStub.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsStub.cs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
 using Microsoft.Win32;
 using System.Management.Automation.Remoting;
+using System.Net.Http;
 
 #pragma warning disable 1591, 1572, 1571, 1573, 1587, 1570, 0067
 
@@ -473,6 +474,23 @@ public sealed class AppDomainUnloadedException : Exception
     {
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Stub for WebException
+    /// </summary>
+    public sealed class WebException : Exception
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Creates a new instance of the WebException
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="message"></param>
+        public WebException(string message) : base(message) { }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets the error message returned from the remote host.
+        /// </summary>
+        public HttpResponseMessage Response { get; set; }
+    }
+
     #endregion Exception_Related
 
     #region SafeHandle_Related
diff --git a/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility/WebCmdlets.Tests.ps1 b/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility/WebCmdlets.Tests.ps1
index 11529315a69..67208e1b8d1 100644
--- a/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility/WebCmdlets.Tests.ps1
+++ b/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility/WebCmdlets.Tests.ps1
@@ -399,6 +399,20 @@ Describe "Invoke-WebRequest tests" -Tags "Feature" {
         $result = ExecuteWebCommand -command $command
         $result.Error | Should BeNullOrEmpty
     }
+
+    It "Invoke-WebRequest should read content if status is unsuccessful" {
+
+        $command = "Invoke-WebRequest http://httpbin.org/status/418"
+        $result = ExecuteWebCommand -command $command
+        $result.Error.ErrorDetails.Message | Should Match "\-=\[ teapot \]"
+    }
+
+    It "Invoke-WebRequest should return status code if status is unsuccessful" {
+
+        $command = "Invoke-WebRequest http://httpbin.org/status/500"
+        $result = ExecuteWebCommand -command $command
+        $result.Error.Exception.Response.StatusCode | Should be 500
+    }
 }
 
 Describe "Invoke-RestMethod tests" -Tags "Feature" {