diff --git a/certbot/certbot/interfaces.py b/certbot/certbot/interfaces.py
index 81b41d1ec..c6590575e 100644
--- a/certbot/certbot/interfaces.py
+++ b/certbot/certbot/interfaces.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 """Certbot client interfaces."""
 import abc
+import enum
 
 import six
 import zope.interface
@@ -589,6 +590,43 @@ class RenewableCert(object):
 
         """
 
+
+class OCSPCertStatus(enum.Enum):
+    """Values for the certificate status field in an OCSP response."""
+    GOOD = 1
+    REVOKED = 2
+    UNKNOWN = 3
+
+
+@six.add_metaclass(abc.ABCMeta)
+class OCSPResponse(object):
+    """Interface for an OCSP response."""
+
+    @abc.abstractproperty
+    def certificate_status(self):
+        """Certificate status
+
+        :rtype: OCSPCertStatus
+
+        """
+
+    @abc.abstractproperty
+    def next_update(self):
+        """Next update
+
+        :rtype: datetime.datetime
+
+        """
+
+    @abc.abstractproperty
+    def bytes(self):
+        """Raw bytes of the OCSP response
+
+        :rtype: bytes
+
+        """
+
+
 # Updater interfaces
 #
 # When "certbot renew" is run, Certbot will iterate over each lineage and check
diff --git a/certbot/certbot/ocsp.py b/certbot/certbot/ocsp.py
index 51ada012a..5bd0ec850 100644
--- a/certbot/certbot/ocsp.py
+++ b/certbot/certbot/ocsp.py
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
-"""Tools for checking certificate revocation."""
+"""Tools for checking certificate revocation.
+
+.. data:: CRYPTOGRAPHY_OCSP_AVAILABLE
+
+    Boolean that is true if cryptography can be used for making OCSP
+    queries instead of shelling out to openssl.
+
+"""
 from datetime import datetime
 from datetime import timedelta
 import logging
@@ -20,6 +27,7 @@ from acme.magic_typing import Optional
 from acme.magic_typing import Tuple
 from certbot import crypto_util
 from certbot import errors
+from certbot import interfaces
 from certbot import util
 from certbot.compat.os import getenv
 from certbot.interfaces import RenewableCert  # pylint: disable=unused-import
@@ -29,8 +37,9 @@ try:
     # and signature_hash_algorithm attribute in OCSPResponse class
     from cryptography.x509 import ocsp  # pylint: disable=ungrouped-imports
     getattr(ocsp.OCSPResponse, 'signature_hash_algorithm')
+    CRYPTOGRAPHY_OCSP_AVAILABLE = True
 except (ImportError, AttributeError):  # pragma: no cover
-    ocsp = None  # type: ignore
+    CRYPTOGRAPHY_OCSP_AVAILABLE = False
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -41,7 +50,7 @@ class RevocationChecker(object):
 
     def __init__(self, enforce_openssl_binary_usage=False):
         self.broken = False
-        self.use_openssl_binary = enforce_openssl_binary_usage or not ocsp
+        self.use_openssl_binary = enforce_openssl_binary_usage or not CRYPTOGRAPHY_OCSP_AVAILABLE
 
         if self.use_openssl_binary:
             if not util.exe_exists("openssl"):
@@ -58,6 +67,29 @@ class RevocationChecker(object):
             else:
                 self.host_args = lambda host: ["Host", host]
 
+    def ocsp_response_by_paths(self, cert_path, chain_path, timeout=10):
+        """Obtains a validated OCSP response.
+
+        The OCSP response could have any certificate status, however, if
+        an OCSP response is returned from this function, the caller
+        knows it is properly timestamped, signed, etc.
+
+        .. note:: This function currently only works when cryptography
+            is used for OCSP. Whether a new enough version of crypography
+            with OCSP support is available can be checked through
+            CRYPTOGRAPHY_OCSP_AVAILABLE. If it is not available, None is
+            always returned by this function for now.
+
+        :param str cert_path: Certificate filepath
+        :param str chain_path: Certificate chain
+        :param int timeout: Timeout (in seconds) for the OCSP query
+
+        :returns: The OCSP response if it could be obtained and
+            validated, otherwise, None
+        :rtype: interfaces.OCSPResponse or None
+
+        """
+
     def ocsp_revoked(self, cert):
         # type: (RenewableCert) -> bool
         """Get revoked status for a particular cert version.
@@ -139,6 +171,10 @@ class RevocationChecker(object):
         return _translate_ocsp_query(cert_path, output, err)
 
 
+class _CryptographyOCSPResponse(interfaces.OCSPResponse):
+    """Cryptography implementation of OCSPResponse interface."""
+
+
 def _determine_ocsp_server(cert_path):
     # type: (str) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]
     """Extract the OCSP server host from a certificate.