diff --git a/samples/listenForMessages.js b/samples/listenForMessages.js
index 3f3f35547..ebfdbbeb7 100644
--- a/samples/listenForMessages.js
+++ b/samples/listenForMessages.js
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ const {PubSub} = require('@google-cloud/pubsub');
 const pubSubClient = new PubSub();
 
 function listenForMessages(subscriptionNameOrId, timeout) {
-  // References an existing subscription
+  // References an existing subscription; if you are unsure if the
+  // subscription will exist, try the optimisticSubscribe sample.
   const subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);
 
   // Create an event handler to handle messages
diff --git a/samples/optimisticSubscribe.js b/samples/optimisticSubscribe.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d2c53272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/samples/optimisticSubscribe.js
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+// Copyright 2019-2023 Google LLC
+//
+// 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.
+
+// This is a generated sample, using the typeless sample bot. Please
+// look for the source TypeScript sample (.ts) for modifications.
+'use strict';
+
+/**
+ * This sample demonstrates how to perform basic operations on
+ * subscriptions with the Google Cloud Pub/Sub API.
+ *
+ * For more information, see the README.md under /pubsub and the documentation
+ * at https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/docs.
+ */
+
+// sample-metadata:
+//   title: Optimistic Subscribe
+//   description: Listens for messages from a subscription, creating it if needed.
+//   usage: node optimisticSubscribe.js <subscription-name-or-id> <topic-name-or-id> [timeout-in-seconds]
+
+// [START pubsub_optimistic_subscribe]
+/**
+ * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
+ */
+// const subscriptionNameOrId = 'YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME_OR_ID';
+// const topicNameOrId = 'YOUR_TOPIC_NAME_OR_ID';
+// const timeout = 60;
+
+// Imports the Google Cloud client library
+const {PubSub} = require('@google-cloud/pubsub');
+
+// Creates a client; cache this for further use
+const pubSubClient = new PubSub();
+
+function optimisticSubscribe(subscriptionNameOrId, topicNameOrId, timeout) {
+  // Try using an existing subscription
+  let subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);
+
+  // Create an event handler to handle messages
+  let messageCount = 0;
+  const messageHandler = message => {
+    console.log(`Received message ${message.id}:`);
+    console.log(`\tData: ${message.data}`);
+    console.log(`\tAttributes: ${message.attributes}`);
+    messageCount += 1;
+
+    // "Ack" (acknowledge receipt of) the message
+    message.ack();
+  };
+
+  // Set an error handler so that we're notified if the subscription doesn't
+  // already exist.
+  subscription.on('error', async e => {
+    // Resource Not Found
+    if (e.code === 5) {
+      console.log('Subscription not found, creating it');
+      await pubSubClient.createSubscription(
+        topicNameOrId,
+        subscriptionNameOrId
+      );
+
+      // Refresh our subscriber object and re-attach the message handler.
+      subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);
+      subscription.on('message', messageHandler);
+    }
+  });
+
+  // Listen for new messages until timeout is hit; this will attempt to
+  // open the actual subscriber streams. If it fails, the error handler
+  // above will be called.
+  subscription.on('message', messageHandler);
+
+  // Wait a while for the subscription to run. (Part of the sample only.)
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    subscription.removeListener('message', messageHandler);
+    console.log(`${messageCount} message(s) received.`);
+  }, timeout * 1000);
+}
+// [END pubsub_optimistic_subscribe]
+
+function main(
+  subscriptionNameOrId = 'YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME_OR_ID',
+  topicNameOrId = 'YOUR_TOPIC_NAME_OR_ID',
+  timeout = 60
+) {
+  timeout = Number(timeout);
+  optimisticSubscribe(subscriptionNameOrId, topicNameOrId, timeout);
+}
+
+main(...process.argv.slice(2));
diff --git a/samples/typescript/listenForMessages.ts b/samples/typescript/listenForMessages.ts
index 72cb468df..582e04649 100644
--- a/samples/typescript/listenForMessages.ts
+++ b/samples/typescript/listenForMessages.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ import {PubSub, Message} from '@google-cloud/pubsub';
 const pubSubClient = new PubSub();
 
 function listenForMessages(subscriptionNameOrId: string, timeout: number) {
-  // References an existing subscription
+  // References an existing subscription; if you are unsure if the
+  // subscription will exist, try the optimisticSubscribe sample.
   const subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);
 
   // Create an event handler to handle messages
diff --git a/samples/typescript/optimisticSubscribe.ts b/samples/typescript/optimisticSubscribe.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..215249311
--- /dev/null
+++ b/samples/typescript/optimisticSubscribe.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+// Copyright 2019-2023 Google LLC
+//
+// 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.
+
+/**
+ * This sample demonstrates how to perform basic operations on
+ * subscriptions with the Google Cloud Pub/Sub API.
+ *
+ * For more information, see the README.md under /pubsub and the documentation
+ * at https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/docs.
+ */
+
+// sample-metadata:
+//   title: Optimistic Subscribe
+//   description: Listens for messages from a subscription, creating it if needed.
+//   usage: node optimisticSubscribe.js <subscription-name-or-id> <topic-name-or-id> [timeout-in-seconds]
+
+// [START pubsub_optimistic_subscribe]
+/**
+ * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
+ */
+// const subscriptionNameOrId = 'YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME_OR_ID';
+// const topicNameOrId = 'YOUR_TOPIC_NAME_OR_ID';
+// const timeout = 60;
+
+// Imports the Google Cloud client library
+import {PubSub, Message, StatusError} from '@google-cloud/pubsub';
+
+// Creates a client; cache this for further use
+const pubSubClient = new PubSub();
+
+function optimisticSubscribe(
+  subscriptionNameOrId: string,
+  topicNameOrId: string,
+  timeout: number
+) {
+  // Try using an existing subscription
+  let subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);
+
+  // Create an event handler to handle messages
+  let messageCount = 0;
+  const messageHandler = (message: Message) => {
+    console.log(`Received message ${message.id}:`);
+    console.log(`\tData: ${message.data}`);
+    console.log(`\tAttributes: ${message.attributes}`);
+    messageCount += 1;
+
+    // "Ack" (acknowledge receipt of) the message
+    message.ack();
+  };
+
+  // Set an error handler so that we're notified if the subscription doesn't
+  // already exist.
+  subscription.on('error', async (e: StatusError) => {
+    // Resource Not Found
+    if (e.code === 5) {
+      console.log('Subscription not found, creating it');
+      await pubSubClient.createSubscription(
+        topicNameOrId,
+        subscriptionNameOrId
+      );
+
+      // Refresh our subscriber object and re-attach the message handler.
+      subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);
+      subscription.on('message', messageHandler);
+    }
+  });
+
+  // Listen for new messages until timeout is hit; this will attempt to
+  // open the actual subscriber streams. If it fails, the error handler
+  // above will be called.
+  subscription.on('message', messageHandler);
+
+  // Wait a while for the subscription to run. (Part of the sample only.)
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    subscription.removeListener('message', messageHandler);
+    console.log(`${messageCount} message(s) received.`);
+  }, timeout * 1000);
+}
+// [END pubsub_optimistic_subscribe]
+
+function main(
+  subscriptionNameOrId = 'YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME_OR_ID',
+  topicNameOrId = 'YOUR_TOPIC_NAME_OR_ID',
+  timeout = 60
+) {
+  timeout = Number(timeout);
+  optimisticSubscribe(subscriptionNameOrId, topicNameOrId, timeout);
+}
+
+main(...process.argv.slice(2));
diff --git a/src/debug.ts b/src/debug.ts
index b7856dd44..807413ea1 100644
--- a/src/debug.ts
+++ b/src/debug.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
+import {grpc} from 'google-gax';
+
 /**
  * Represents a debug message the user might want to print out for logging
  * while debugging or whatnot. These will always come by way of the 'error'
@@ -31,6 +33,7 @@
 export class DebugMessage {
   constructor(
     public message: string,
-    public error?: Error
+    public error?: Error,
+    public status?: grpc.StatusObject
   ) {}
 }
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index abc8afb08..15b5a1d32 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ export {
   SeekResponse,
   Snapshot,
 } from './snapshot';
-export {Message, SubscriberOptions} from './subscriber';
+export {Message, StatusError, SubscriberOptions} from './subscriber';
 export {
   Schema,
   CreateSchemaResponse,
diff --git a/src/message-stream.ts b/src/message-stream.ts
index 80b714496..2d9ebc760 100644
--- a/src/message-stream.ts
+++ b/src/message-stream.ts
@@ -388,7 +388,9 @@ export class MessageStream extends PassThrough {
       this.emit(
         'debug',
         new DebugMessage(
-          `Subscriber stream ${index} has ended with status ${status.code}; will be retried.`
+          `Subscriber stream ${index} has ended with status ${status.code}; will be retried.`,
+          undefined,
+          status
         )
       );
       if (PullRetry.resetFailures(status)) {
@@ -401,7 +403,9 @@ export class MessageStream extends PassThrough {
       this.emit(
         'debug',
         new DebugMessage(
-          `Subscriber stream ${index} has ended with status ${status.code}; will not be retried.`
+          `Subscriber stream ${index} has ended with status ${status.code}; will not be retried.`,
+          undefined,
+          status
         )
       );
 
diff --git a/src/subscriber.ts b/src/subscriber.ts
index fd3dc30a4..c20b63be6 100644
--- a/src/subscriber.ts
+++ b/src/subscriber.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ import * as tracing from './telemetry-tracing';
 import {Duration} from './temporal';
 import {EventEmitter} from 'events';
 
+export {StatusError} from './message-stream';
+
 export type PullResponse = google.pubsub.v1.IStreamingPullResponse;
 export type SubscriptionProperties =
   google.pubsub.v1.StreamingPullResponse.ISubscriptionProperties;