diff --git a/tests/functional/test_check.py b/tests/functional/test_check.py
index 45611e73e..e06d2e1dd 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_check.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_check.py
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ def test_check_complicated_name_clean(script):
     )
     assert "Successfully installed dependency-b-1.0" in result.stdout
 
-    result = script.pip('check', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('check')
     expected_lines = (
         "No broken requirements found.",
     )
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_completion.py b/tests/functional/test_completion.py
index b4e93da40..49bee8ec2 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_completion.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_completion.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def test_completion_alone(script):
     """
     Test getting completion for none shell, just pip completion
     """
-    result = script.pip('completion', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('completion', allow_stderr_error=True)
     assert 'ERROR: You must pass --bash or --fish or --zsh' in result.stderr, \
            'completion alone failed -- ' + result.stderr
 
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_download.py b/tests/functional/test_download.py
index 1a20870c0..7873e255b 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_download.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_download.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def test_download_if_requested(script):
     It should download (in the scratch path) and not install if requested.
     """
     result = script.pip(
-        'download', '-d', 'pip_downloads', 'INITools==0.1', expect_error=True
+        'download', '-d', 'pip_downloads', 'INITools==0.1'
     )
     assert Path('scratch') / 'pip_downloads' / 'INITools-0.1.tar.gz' \
         in result.files_created
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ def test_single_download_from_requirements_file(script):
         """))
     result = script.pip(
         'download', '-r', script.scratch_path / 'test-req.txt', '-d', '.',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     assert Path('scratch') / 'INITools-0.1.tar.gz' in result.files_created
     assert script.site_packages / 'initools' not in result.files_created
@@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ def test_basic_download_should_download_dependencies(script):
     It should download dependencies (in the scratch path)
     """
     result = script.pip(
-        'download', 'Paste[openid]==1.7.5.1', '-d', '.', expect_error=True,
+        'download', 'Paste[openid]==1.7.5.1', '-d', '.'
     )
     assert Path('scratch') / 'Paste-1.7.5.1.tar.gz' in result.files_created
     openid_tarball_prefix = str(Path('scratch') / 'python-openid-')
@@ -129,7 +128,6 @@ def test_download_should_skip_existing_files(script):
 
     result = script.pip(
         'download', '-r', script.scratch_path / 'test-req.txt', '-d', '.',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     assert Path('scratch') / 'INITools-0.1.tar.gz' in result.files_created
     assert script.site_packages / 'initools' not in result.files_created
@@ -143,7 +141,6 @@ def test_download_should_skip_existing_files(script):
     # only the second package should be downloaded
     result = script.pip(
         'download', '-r', script.scratch_path / 'test-req.txt', '-d', '.',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     openid_tarball_prefix = str(Path('scratch') / 'python-openid-')
     assert any(
@@ -387,7 +384,6 @@ class TestDownloadPlatformManylinuxes(object):
             '--dest', '.',
             '--platform', 'linux_x86_64',
             'fake',
-            expect_error=True,
         )
 
 
@@ -571,7 +567,6 @@ def test_download_specify_abi(script, data):
         '--dest', '.',
         '--abi', 'cp27m',
         'fake',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
 
     data.reset()
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install.py b/tests/functional/test_install.py
index 084b08ed0..6e1e3dd40 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install.py
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ def _test_install_editable_from_git(script, tmpdir):
     """Test cloning from Git."""
     pkg_path = _create_test_package(script, name='testpackage', vcs='git')
     args = ['install', '-e', 'git+%s#egg=testpackage' % path_to_url(pkg_path)]
-    result = script.pip(*args, **{"expect_error": True})
+    result = script.pip(*args)
     result.assert_installed('testpackage', with_files=['.git'])
 
 
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ def test_basic_install_editable_from_hg(script, tmpdir):
     """Test cloning from Mercurial."""
     pkg_path = _create_test_package(script, name='testpackage', vcs='hg')
     args = ['install', '-e', 'hg+%s#egg=testpackage' % path_to_url(pkg_path)]
-    result = script.pip(*args, **{"expect_error": True})
+    result = script.pip(*args)
     result.assert_installed('testpackage', with_files=['.hg'])
 
 
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ def test_vcs_url_final_slash_normalization(script, tmpdir):
     """
     pkg_path = _create_test_package(script, name='testpackage', vcs='hg')
     args = ['install', '-e', 'hg+%s/#egg=testpackage' % path_to_url(pkg_path)]
-    result = script.pip(*args, **{"expect_error": True})
+    result = script.pip(*args)
     result.assert_installed('testpackage', with_files=['.hg'])
 
 
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ def test_install_editable_from_bazaar(script, tmpdir):
     """Test checking out from Bazaar."""
     pkg_path = _create_test_package(script, name='testpackage', vcs='bazaar')
     args = ['install', '-e', 'bzr+%s/#egg=testpackage' % path_to_url(pkg_path)]
-    result = script.pip(*args, **{"expect_error": True})
+    result = script.pip(*args)
     result.assert_installed('testpackage', with_files=['.bzr'])
 
 
@@ -1264,8 +1264,8 @@ def test_install_editable_with_wrong_egg_name(script):
               version='0.1')
     """))
     result = script.pip(
-        'install', '--editable', 'file://%s#egg=pkgb' % pkga_path,
-        expect_error=True)
+        'install', '--editable', 'file://%s#egg=pkgb' % pkga_path
+    )
     assert ("Generating metadata for package pkgb produced metadata "
             "for project name pkga. Fix your #egg=pkgb "
             "fragments.") in result.stderr
@@ -1368,7 +1368,7 @@ def test_install_compatible_python_requires(script):
               python_requires='>1.0',
               version='0.1')
     """))
-    res = script.pip('install', pkga_path, expect_error=True)
+    res = script.pip('install', pkga_path)
     assert "Successfully installed pkga-0.1" in res.stdout, res
 
 
@@ -1424,7 +1424,7 @@ def test_install_from_test_pypi_with_ext_url_dep_is_blocked(script, index):
 
 def test_installing_scripts_outside_path_prints_warning(script):
     result = script.pip_install_local(
-        "--prefix", script.scratch_path, "script_wheel1", expect_error=True
+        "--prefix", script.scratch_path, "script_wheel1"
     )
     assert "Successfully installed script-wheel1" in result.stdout, str(result)
     assert "--no-warn-script-location" in result.stderr
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install_check.py b/tests/functional/test_install_check.py
index 46c7dabe5..017d6256b 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install_check.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install_check.py
@@ -31,7 +31,11 @@ def test_check_install_canonicalization(script, deprecated_python):
     # Install the first missing dependency. Only an error for the
     # second dependency should remain.
     result = script.pip(
-        'install', '--no-index', normal_path, '--quiet', expect_error=True
+        'install',
+        '--no-index',
+        normal_path,
+        '--quiet',
+        allow_stderr_error=True,
     )
     expected_lines = [
         "ERROR: pkga 1.0 requires SPECIAL.missing, which is not installed.",
@@ -87,7 +91,7 @@ def test_check_install_does_not_warn_for_out_of_graph_issues(
 
     # Install conflict package
     result = script.pip(
-        'install', '--no-index', pkg_conflict_path, expect_error=True,
+        'install', '--no-index', pkg_conflict_path, allow_stderr_error=True,
     )
     assert matches_expected_lines(result.stderr, [
         "ERROR: broken 1.0 requires missing, which is not installed.",
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install_cleanup.py b/tests/functional/test_install_cleanup.py
index f6bf903e4..bc51074ea 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install_cleanup.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install_cleanup.py
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ def test_cleanup_after_install_editable_from_hg(script, tmpdir):
             'hg+https://bitbucket.org/ianb/scripttest',
             tmpdir.joinpath("cache"),
         ),
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     build = script.venv_path / 'build'
     src = script.venv_path / 'src'
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install_compat.py b/tests/functional/test_install_compat.py
index c48ba3f6f..3c77b3e04 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install_compat.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install_compat.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def test_debian_egg_name_workaround(script):
     https://bitbucket.org/ianb/pip/issue/104/pip-uninstall-on-ubuntu-linux
 
     """
-    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2')
 
     egg_info = os.path.join(
         script.site_packages, "INITools-0.2-py%s.egg-info" % pyversion)
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install_config.py b/tests/functional/test_install_config.py
index 4cb2e3e7c..bcf83f163 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install_config.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install_config.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def _test_env_vars_override_config_file(script, virtualenv, config_file):
     )
     script.environ['PIP_NO_INDEX'] = '0'
     virtualenv.clear()
-    result = script.pip('install', '-vvv', 'INITools', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('install', '-vvv', 'INITools')
     assert "Successfully installed INITools" in result.stdout
 
 
@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ def test_command_line_append_flags(script, virtualenv, data):
     result = script.pip(
         'install', '-vvv', 'INITools', '--trusted-host',
         'test.pypi.org',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     assert (
         "Analyzing links from page https://test.pypi.org"
@@ -99,7 +98,6 @@ def test_command_line_append_flags(script, virtualenv, data):
     result = script.pip(
         'install', '-vvv', '--find-links', data.find_links, 'INITools',
         '--trusted-host', 'test.pypi.org',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     assert (
         "Analyzing links from page https://test.pypi.org"
@@ -123,7 +121,6 @@ def test_command_line_appends_correctly(script, data):
     result = script.pip(
         'install', '-vvv', 'INITools', '--trusted-host',
         'test.pypi.org',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
 
     assert (
@@ -175,7 +172,6 @@ def _test_config_file_override_stack(script, virtualenv, config_file):
     result = script.pip(
         'install', '-vvv', '--index-url', 'https://pypi.org/simple/',
         'INITools',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     assert (
         "Getting page http://download.zope.org/ppix/INITools"
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install_force_reinstall.py b/tests/functional/test_install_force_reinstall.py
index 33aabeb76..56c7aee39 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install_force_reinstall.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install_force_reinstall.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def check_force_reinstall(script, specifier, expected):
     assert result2.files_updated, 'force-reinstall failed'
     check_installed_version(script, 'simplewheel', expected)
 
-    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'simplewheel', '-y', expect_error=True)
+    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'simplewheel', '-y')
     assert_all_changes(result, result3, [script.venv / 'build', 'cache'])
 
 
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install_reqs.py b/tests/functional/test_install_reqs.py
index d2b23df03..63f163ca9 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install_reqs.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install_reqs.py
@@ -534,7 +534,6 @@ def test_install_options_local_to_package(script, data):
         'install',
         '--no-index', '-f', data.find_links,
         '-r', reqs_file,
-        expect_error=True,
     )
 
     simple = test_simple / 'lib' / 'python' / 'simple'
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install_upgrade.py b/tests/functional/test_install_upgrade.py
index 3264e9c34..91f81e168 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install_upgrade.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install_upgrade.py
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ def test_no_upgrade_unless_requested(script):
     No upgrade if not specifically requested.
 
     """
-    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1', expect_error=True)
-    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1')
+    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools')
     assert not result.files_created, (
         'pip install INITools upgraded when it should not have'
     )
@@ -39,10 +39,9 @@ def test_only_if_needed_does_not_upgrade_deps_when_satisfied(script):
     It doesn't upgrade a dependency if it already satisfies the requirements.
 
     """
-    script.pip_install_local('simple==2.0', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip_install_local('simple==2.0')
     result = script.pip_install_local(
-        '--upgrade', '--upgrade-strategy=only-if-needed', 'require_simple',
-        expect_error=True
+        '--upgrade', '--upgrade-strategy=only-if-needed', 'require_simple'
     )
 
     assert (
@@ -64,10 +63,9 @@ def test_only_if_needed_does_upgrade_deps_when_no_longer_satisfied(script):
     It does upgrade a dependency if it no longer satisfies the requirements.
 
     """
-    script.pip_install_local('simple==1.0', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip_install_local('simple==1.0')
     result = script.pip_install_local(
-        '--upgrade', '--upgrade-strategy=only-if-needed', 'require_simple',
-        expect_error=True
+        '--upgrade', '--upgrade-strategy=only-if-needed', 'require_simple'
     )
 
     assert (
@@ -89,10 +87,9 @@ def test_eager_does_upgrade_dependecies_when_currently_satisfied(script):
     It does upgrade a dependency even if it already satisfies the requirements.
 
     """
-    script.pip_install_local('simple==2.0', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip_install_local('simple==2.0')
     result = script.pip_install_local(
-        '--upgrade', '--upgrade-strategy=eager', 'require_simple',
-        expect_error=True
+        '--upgrade', '--upgrade-strategy=eager', 'require_simple'
     )
 
     assert (
@@ -110,10 +107,9 @@ def test_eager_does_upgrade_dependecies_when_no_longer_satisfied(script):
     It does upgrade a dependency if it no longer satisfies the requirements.
 
     """
-    script.pip_install_local('simple==1.0', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip_install_local('simple==1.0')
     result = script.pip_install_local(
-        '--upgrade', '--upgrade-strategy=eager', 'require_simple',
-        expect_error=True
+        '--upgrade', '--upgrade-strategy=eager', 'require_simple'
     )
 
     assert (
@@ -136,8 +132,8 @@ def test_upgrade_to_specific_version(script):
     It does upgrade to specific version requested.
 
     """
-    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1', expect_error=True)
-    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1')
+    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2')
     assert result.files_created, (
         'pip install with specific version did not upgrade'
     )
@@ -157,8 +153,8 @@ def test_upgrade_if_requested(script):
     And it does upgrade if requested.
 
     """
-    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1', expect_error=True)
-    result = script.pip('install', '--upgrade', 'INITools', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1')
+    result = script.pip('install', '--upgrade', 'INITools')
     assert result.files_created, 'pip install --upgrade did not upgrade'
     assert (
         script.site_packages / 'INITools-0.1-py%s.egg-info' %
@@ -193,7 +189,7 @@ def test_upgrade_force_reinstall_newest(script):
         'install', '--upgrade', '--force-reinstall', 'INITools'
     )
     assert result2.files_updated, 'upgrade to INITools 0.3 failed'
-    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'initools', '-y', expect_error=True)
+    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'initools', '-y')
     assert_all_changes(result, result3, [script.venv / 'build', 'cache'])
 
 
@@ -203,13 +199,13 @@ def test_uninstall_before_upgrade(script):
     Automatic uninstall-before-upgrade.
 
     """
-    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2')
     assert script.site_packages / 'initools' in result.files_created, (
         sorted(result.files_created.keys())
     )
-    result2 = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.3', expect_error=True)
+    result2 = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.3')
     assert result2.files_created, 'upgrade to INITools 0.3 failed'
-    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'initools', '-y', expect_error=True)
+    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'initools', '-y')
     assert_all_changes(result, result3, [script.venv / 'build', 'cache'])
 
 
@@ -219,7 +215,7 @@ def test_uninstall_before_upgrade_from_url(script):
     Automatic uninstall-before-upgrade from URL.
 
     """
-    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2')
     assert script.site_packages / 'initools' in result.files_created, (
         sorted(result.files_created.keys())
     )
@@ -227,10 +223,9 @@ def test_uninstall_before_upgrade_from_url(script):
         'install',
         'https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/I/INITools/INITools-'
         '0.3.tar.gz',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     assert result2.files_created, 'upgrade to INITools 0.3 failed'
-    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'initools', '-y', expect_error=True)
+    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'initools', '-y')
     assert_all_changes(result, result3, [script.venv / 'build', 'cache'])
 
 
@@ -241,7 +236,7 @@ def test_upgrade_to_same_version_from_url(script):
     need to uninstall and reinstall if --upgrade is not specified.
 
     """
-    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.3', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.3')
     assert script.site_packages / 'initools' in result.files_created, (
         sorted(result.files_created.keys())
     )
@@ -249,10 +244,9 @@ def test_upgrade_to_same_version_from_url(script):
         'install',
         'https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/source/I/INITools/INITools-'
         '0.3.tar.gz',
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     assert not result2.files_updated, 'INITools 0.3 reinstalled same version'
-    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'initools', '-y', expect_error=True)
+    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', 'initools', '-y')
     assert_all_changes(result, result3, [script.venv / 'build', 'cache'])
 
 
@@ -321,9 +315,9 @@ def test_should_not_install_always_from_cache(script):
     If there is an old cached package, pip should download the newer version
     Related to issue #175
     """
-    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.2')
     script.pip('uninstall', '-y', 'INITools')
-    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1')
     assert (
         script.site_packages / 'INITools-0.2-py%s.egg-info' %
         pyversion not in result.files_created
@@ -339,8 +333,8 @@ def test_install_with_ignoreinstalled_requested(script):
     """
     Test old conflicting package is completely ignored
     """
-    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1', expect_error=True)
-    result = script.pip('install', '-I', 'INITools==0.3', expect_error=True)
+    script.pip('install', 'INITools==0.1')
+    result = script.pip('install', '-I', 'INITools==0.3')
     assert result.files_created, 'pip install -I did not install'
     # both the old and new metadata should be present.
     assert os.path.exists(
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_install_wheel.py b/tests/functional/test_install_wheel.py
index b4871a2e0..8d530a50b 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_install_wheel.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_install_wheel.py
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ def test_wheel_no_compiles_pyc(script, data):
 def test_install_from_wheel_uninstalls_old_version(script, data):
     # regression test for https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/1825
     package = data.packages.joinpath("simplewheel-1.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl")
-    result = script.pip('install', package, '--no-index', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('install', package, '--no-index')
     package = data.packages.joinpath("simplewheel-2.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl")
     result = script.pip('install', package, '--no-index', expect_error=False)
     dist_info_folder = script.site_packages / 'simplewheel-2.0.dist-info'
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_uninstall.py b/tests/functional/test_uninstall.py
index 87c587516..128d66102 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_uninstall.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_uninstall.py
@@ -142,11 +142,11 @@ def test_basic_uninstall_namespace_package(script):
     the namespace and everything in it.
 
     """
-    result = script.pip('install', 'pd.requires==0.0.3', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.pip('install', 'pd.requires==0.0.3')
     assert join(script.site_packages, 'pd') in result.files_created, (
         sorted(result.files_created.keys())
     )
-    result2 = script.pip('uninstall', 'pd.find', '-y', expect_error=True)
+    result2 = script.pip('uninstall', 'pd.find', '-y')
     assert join(script.site_packages, 'pd') not in result2.files_deleted, (
         sorted(result2.files_deleted.keys())
     )
@@ -259,11 +259,11 @@ def test_uninstall_console_scripts(script):
     """
     args = ['install']
     args.append('discover')
-    result = script.pip(*args, **{"expect_error": True})
+    result = script.pip(*args)
     assert script.bin / 'discover' + script.exe in result.files_created, (
         sorted(result.files_created.keys())
     )
-    result2 = script.pip('uninstall', 'discover', '-y', expect_error=True)
+    result2 = script.pip('uninstall', 'discover', '-y')
     assert_all_changes(result, result2, [script.venv / 'build', 'cache'])
 
 
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ def test_uninstall_easy_installed_console_scripts(script):
     """
     Test uninstalling package with console_scripts that is easy_installed.
     """
-    result = script.easy_install('discover', expect_error=True)
+    result = script.easy_install('discover')
     assert script.bin / 'discover' + script.exe in result.files_created, (
         sorted(result.files_created.keys())
     )
@@ -349,8 +349,7 @@ def _test_uninstall_editable_with_source_outside_venv(
     assert join(
         script.site_packages, 'pip-test-package.egg-link'
     ) in result2.files_created, list(result2.files_created.keys())
-    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', '-y',
-                         'pip-test-package', expect_error=True)
+    result3 = script.pip('uninstall', '-y', 'pip-test-package')
     assert_all_changes(
         result,
         result3,
diff --git a/tests/lib/git_submodule_helpers.py b/tests/lib/git_submodule_helpers.py
index 501b51f1e..c529620f7 100644
--- a/tests/lib/git_submodule_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/lib/git_submodule_helpers.py
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ def _create_test_package_with_submodule(env, rel_path):
                               packages=find_packages(),
                              )
                         '''))
-    env.run('git', 'init', cwd=version_pkg_path, expect_error=True)
-    env.run('git', 'add', '.', cwd=version_pkg_path, expect_error=True)
+    env.run('git', 'init', cwd=version_pkg_path)
+    env.run('git', 'add', '.', cwd=version_pkg_path)
     _git_commit(env, version_pkg_path, message='initial version')
 
     submodule_path = _create_test_package_submodule(env)
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ def _create_test_package_with_submodule(env, rel_path):
         submodule_path,
         rel_path,
         cwd=version_pkg_path,
-        expect_error=True,
     )
     _git_commit(env, version_pkg_path, message='initial version w submodule')