diff --git a/component/componentstatus/status.go b/component/componentstatus/status.go
index 14e3554dd2a..57a691dab57 100644
--- a/component/componentstatus/status.go
+++ b/component/componentstatus/status.go
@@ -119,3 +119,10 @@ func NewFatalErrorEvent(err error) *Event {
 	return ev
 }
 
+// StatusIsError returns true for error statuses (e.g. StatusRecoverableError,
+// StatusPermanentError, or StatusFatalError)
+func StatusIsError(status Status) bool {
+	return status == StatusRecoverableError ||
+		status == StatusPermanentError ||
+		status == StatusFatalError
+}
diff --git a/component/componentstatus/status_test.go b/component/componentstatus/status_test.go
index aeb7e3e6d23..7d66f2c5c3d 100644
--- a/component/componentstatus/status_test.go
+++ b/component/componentstatus/status_test.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ package componentstatus
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -49,7 +48,6 @@ func TestStatusEventsWithError(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-
 func TestStatusIsError(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tc := range []struct {
 		status  Status
@@ -90,4 +88,3 @@ func TestStatusIsError(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
-