diff --git a/src/autograd.jl b/src/autograd.jl
index 6a98b2f9a..e7ce335e2 100644
--- a/src/autograd.jl
+++ b/src/autograd.jl
@@ -48,36 +48,32 @@ end
 
 _set_training(::Void) = nothing
 
-"""
-Get status on recording/not recording.
+###############################################################################
+#  Public API
+###############################################################################
 
-## Returns
+"""
+    is_recording()::Bool
 
-Current state of recording.
+Get status on recording/not recording.
 """
-function _is_recording()::Bool
+function is_recording()::Bool
   state = Ref{Cint}(C_NULL)
   @mxcall(:MXAutogradIsRecording, (Ref{Cint},), state)
   state[]
 end
 
 """
-Get status on recording/not recording.
-
-## Returns
+    is_training()::Bool
 
-Current state of recording.
+Get status on recording/not recording.
 """
-function _is_training()::Bool
+function is_training()::Bool
   state = Ref{Cint}(C_NULL)
   @mxcall(:MXAutogradIsTraining, (Ref{Cint},), state)
   state[]
 end
 
-###############################################################################
-#  Public API
-###############################################################################
-
 @inline function _record(f, is_record::Union{Void,Bool}, train_mode::Union{Void,Bool})
   # Port from Python's `_RecordingStateScope` context manager
   # __enter__
@@ -247,9 +243,9 @@ function backward!(heads::VecOfNDArray, head_grads::Vector;
                    retain_graph::Bool = false, train_mode::Bool = true)
   output_handles = map(x -> x.handle, heads)
   ograd_handles  = map(head_grads) do x
-    if isa(x, NDArray)
+    if x isa NDArray
       arr.handle
-    elseif isa(x, Void)
+    elseif x isa Void
       MX_handle(C_NULL)
     else
       throw(ArgumentError("element of head_grads should be NDArray or Void"))
diff --git a/test/unittest/autograd.jl b/test/unittest/autograd.jl
index 3a484ae1f..d56730475 100644
--- a/test/unittest/autograd.jl
+++ b/test/unittest/autograd.jl
@@ -102,6 +102,26 @@ function test_record()
 end  # function test_record
 
 
+function test_is_recording()
+  info("AutoGrad::is_recording")
+  mx.record() do
+    @test is_recording()
+  end
+end  # function test_is_recording
+
+
+function test_is_training()
+  info("AutoGrad::is_training")
+  mx.record() do
+    @test is_training()
+  end
+
+  mx.record(false) do
+    @test !is_training()
+  end
+end  # function test_is_training
+
+
 function test_pause()
   info("AutoGrad::pause")
   let x = mx.NDArray([1 2; 3 4])
@@ -284,6 +304,8 @@ end  # function test_div
   test_getgrad()
   test_mark_variables!()
   test_record()
+  test_is_recording()
+  test_is_training()
   test_pause()
   test_train_mode()
   test_predict_mode()