diff --git a/core/templating/template_helpers.go b/core/templating/template_helpers.go
index 82a711d6b..26b5149f6 100644
--- a/core/templating/template_helpers.go
+++ b/core/templating/template_helpers.go
@@ -274,8 +274,15 @@ func (t templateHelpers) hasJournalKey(indexName, keyValue string, options *raym
 func (t templateHelpers) setStatusCode(statusCode string, options *raymond.Options) string {
 	intStatusCode, err := strconv.Atoi(statusCode)
 	if err != nil {
+		log.Error("status code is not a valid integer")
 		return ""
 	}
+
+	if intStatusCode < 100 || intStatusCode > 599 {
+		log.Error("status code is not valid")
+		return ""
+	}
+
 	internalVars := options.ValueFromAllCtx("InternalVars").(map[string]interface{})
 	internalVars["statusCode"] = intStatusCode
 	return ""
diff --git a/core/templating/templating.go b/core/templating/templating.go
index 60b6e29a9..1016328a8 100644
--- a/core/templating/templating.go
+++ b/core/templating/templating.go
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ func (t *Templator) RenderTemplate(tpl *raymond.Template, requestDetails *models
 	result, err := tpl.Exec(ctx)
 	if err == nil {
 		statusCode, ok := ctx.InternalVars["statusCode"]
-		if ok {
+		if ok && response != nil {
 			response.Status = statusCode.(int)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/core/templating/templating_test.go b/core/templating/templating_test.go
index c64ad16b4..ca419deb7 100644
--- a/core/templating/templating_test.go
+++ b/core/templating/templating_test.go
@@ -671,6 +671,49 @@ func Test_ApplyTemplate_PutAndGetValue_SuppressOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	Expect(template).To(Equal("The ID was 5553686208582"))
 }
 
+func Test_ApplyTemplate_setStatusCode(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterTestingT(t)
+
+	templator := templating.NewTemplator()
+
+	template, err := templator.ParseTemplate(`{{ setStatusCode 400 }}`)
+	Expect(err).To(BeNil())
+
+	response := &models.ResponseDetails{}
+	result, err := templator.RenderTemplate(template, &models.RequestDetails{}, response, &models.Literals{}, &models.Variables{}, make(map[string]string), &journal.Journal{})
+
+	Expect(err).To(BeNil())
+	Expect(result).To(Equal(""))
+	Expect(response.Status).To(Equal(400))
+}
+
+func Test_ApplyTemplate_setStatusCode_should_ignore_invalid_code(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterTestingT(t)
+
+	templator := templating.NewTemplator()
+
+	template, err := templator.ParseTemplate(`{{ setStatusCode 600 }}`)
+	Expect(err).To(BeNil())
+
+	response := &models.ResponseDetails{}
+	result, err := templator.RenderTemplate(template, &models.RequestDetails{}, response, &models.Literals{}, &models.Variables{}, make(map[string]string), &journal.Journal{})
+
+	Expect(err).To(BeNil())
+	Expect(result).To(Equal(""))
+	Expect(response.Status).To(Equal(0))
+}
+
+func Test_ApplyTemplate_setStatusCode_should_handle_nil_response(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterTestingT(t)
+
+	// ApplyTemplate pass a nil response value to RenderTemplate
+	template, err := ApplyTemplate(&models.RequestDetails{}, make(map[string]string), `{{ setStatusCode 400 }}`)
+
+	Expect(err).To(BeNil())
+
+	Expect(template).To(Equal(""))
+}
+
 func toInterfaceSlice(arguments []string) []interface{} {
 	argumentsArray := make([]interface{}, len(arguments))
 
diff --git a/docs/pages/keyconcepts/templating/templating.rst b/docs/pages/keyconcepts/templating/templating.rst
index f481e7098..51018b6c9 100644
--- a/docs/pages/keyconcepts/templating/templating.rst
+++ b/docs/pages/keyconcepts/templating/templating.rst
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ Syntax
 
 .. code:: bash
 
-    journal "index name" "extracted value" "request/response" "xpath/jsonpath" "lookup query"
+    {{ journal "index name" "extracted value" "request/response" "xpath/jsonpath" "lookup query" }}
 
 
 ``index name`` should be the same key expression you have specified when you enable the journal index.
@@ -255,6 +255,13 @@ Example:
 
 In the above example, we are querying the name from JSON response in the journal entry where index ``Request.QueryParam.id`` has a key value of 1.
 
+If you only need to check if a journal contains a particular key, you can do so using the following function:
+
+.. code:: bash
+
+    {{ hasJournalKey "index name" "key name" }}
+
+
 Key Value Data Store
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~