diff --git a/src/main/java/org/web3j/tx/Contract.java b/src/main/java/org/web3j/tx/Contract.java
index 238275e85..7cafea8e7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/web3j/tx/Contract.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/web3j/tx/Contract.java
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ public void setTransactionReceipt(TransactionReceipt transactionReceipt) {
      *
      * @return the TransactionReceipt generated at contract deployment
      */
-    public Optional<TransactionReceipt> getTransactionReceipt() {
-        return Optional.ofNullable(transactionReceipt);
+    public TransactionReceipt getTransactionReceipt() {
+        return transactionReceipt;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/web3j/tx/TransactionManager.java b/src/main/java/org/web3j/tx/TransactionManager.java
index 51f5e6c52..a54684428 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/web3j/tx/TransactionManager.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/web3j/tx/TransactionManager.java
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package org.web3j.tx;
 
 import java.math.BigInteger;
-import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 
 import org.web3j.protocol.Web3j;
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ public abstract EthSendTransaction sendTransaction(
 
     public abstract String getFromAddress();
 
-    private TransactionReceipt processResponse(EthSendTransaction transactionResponse)
+    protected TransactionReceipt processResponse(EthSendTransaction transactionResponse)
             throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TransactionTimeoutException {
         if (transactionResponse.hasError()) {
             throw new RuntimeException("Error processing transaction request: " +
@@ -75,14 +74,14 @@ private TransactionReceipt getTransactionReceipt(
             String transactionHash, int sleepDuration, int attempts)
             throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TransactionTimeoutException {
 
-        Optional<TransactionReceipt> receiptOptional =
+        TransactionReceipt receiptOptional =
                 sendTransactionReceiptRequest(transactionHash);
         for (int i = 0; i < attempts; i++) {
-            if (!receiptOptional.isPresent()) {
+            if (receiptOptional == null) {
                 Thread.sleep(sleepDuration);
                 receiptOptional = sendTransactionReceiptRequest(transactionHash);
             } else {
-                return receiptOptional.get();
+                return receiptOptional;
             }
         }
 
@@ -91,7 +90,7 @@ private TransactionReceipt getTransactionReceipt(
                         " seconds for transaction: " + transactionHash));
     }
 
-    private Optional<TransactionReceipt> sendTransactionReceiptRequest(
+    private TransactionReceipt sendTransactionReceiptRequest(
             String transactionHash) throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {
         EthGetTransactionReceipt transactionReceipt =
                 web3j.ethGetTransactionReceipt(transactionHash).sendAsync().get();
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/web3j/tx/ContractTest.java b/src/test/java/org/web3j/tx/ContractTest.java
index 7d9dbb3ee..77c09b568 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/web3j/tx/ContractTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/web3j/tx/ContractTest.java
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.mockito.Matchers.any;
@@ -70,7 +72,7 @@ public void testGetContractAddress() {
 
     @Test
     public void testGetContractTransactionReceipt() {
-        assertFalse(contract.getTransactionReceipt().isPresent());
+        assertNull(contract.getTransactionReceipt());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -90,8 +92,8 @@ public void testDeploy() throws Exception {
                 ManagedTransaction.GAS_PRICE, Contract.GAS_LIMIT,
                 "0xcafed00d", encodedConstructor, BigInteger.ZERO).get();
         assertThat(deployedContract.getContractAddress(), is(ADDRESS));
-        assertTrue(deployedContract.getTransactionReceipt().isPresent());
-        assertThat(deployedContract.getTransactionReceipt().get(), equalTo(transactionReceipt));
+        assertNotNull(deployedContract.getTransactionReceipt());
+        assertThat(deployedContract.getTransactionReceipt(), equalTo(transactionReceipt));
     }
 
     @Test(expected = RuntimeException.class)