diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ef623f94..ef08e297 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -136,6 +136,10 @@ Unmount the in-memory tree, triggering the appropriate lifecycle events
 
 When using React context providers, like Redux Provider, you'll likely want to wrap rendered component with them. In such cases it's convenient to create your custom `render` method. [Follow this great guide on how to set this up](https://github.com/kentcdodds/react-testing-library#custom-render).
 
+### `toJSON: () => ?ReactTestRendererJSON`
+
+Get the rendered component JSON representation, e.g. for snapshot testing.
+
 ## `shallow`
 
 Shallowly render given React component. Since it doesn't return helpers to query the output, it's mostly advised to used for snapshot testing (short snapshots are best for code reviewers).
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index abe10e9f..3f42cc31 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -30,9 +30,6 @@
     "react": ">=16.0.0",
     "react-test-renderer": ">= 16.0.0"
   },
-  "dependencies": {
-    "react-is": "^16.5.2"
-  },
   "scripts": {
     "test": "jest",
     "flow-check": "flow check",
diff --git a/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/render.test.js.snap b/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/render.test.js.snap
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..09a1b4fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/render.test.js.snap
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
+
+exports[`toJSON 1`] = `"press me"`;
diff --git a/src/__tests__/render.test.js b/src/__tests__/render.test.js
index fa2c29d4..e59b7274 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/render.test.js
+++ b/src/__tests__/render.test.js
@@ -161,3 +161,9 @@ test('unmount', () => {
   unmount();
   expect(fn).toHaveBeenCalled();
 });
+
+test('toJSON', () => {
+  const { toJSON } = render(<Button>press me</Button>);
+
+  expect(toJSON()).toMatchSnapshot();
+});
diff --git a/src/render.js b/src/render.js
index 0a3184ed..10830dcd 100644
--- a/src/render.js
+++ b/src/render.js
@@ -20,5 +20,6 @@ export default function render(
     ...queryByAPI(instance),
     update: renderer.update,
     unmount: renderer.unmount,
+    toJSON: renderer.toJSON,
   };
 }
diff --git a/src/shallow.js b/src/shallow.js
index 41e92e87..65509330 100644
--- a/src/shallow.js
+++ b/src/shallow.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 // @flow
 import * as React from 'react';
-import { isValidElementType } from 'react-is';
 import ShallowRenderer from 'react-test-renderer/shallow'; // eslint-disable-line import/no-extraneous-dependencies
 
 /**
@@ -10,15 +9,10 @@ export default function shallow(
   instance: ReactTestInstance | React.Element<*>
 ) {
   const renderer = new ShallowRenderer();
-  if (isValidElementType(instance)) {
-    // $FlowFixMe - instance is React.Element<*> in this branch
-    renderer.render(instance);
-  } else {
-    renderer.render(React.createElement(instance.type, instance.props));
-  }
-  const output = renderer.getRenderOutput();
+
+  renderer.render(React.createElement(instance.type, instance.props));
 
   return {
-    output,
+    output: renderer.getRenderOutput(),
   };
 }
diff --git a/typings/index.d.ts b/typings/index.d.ts
index bbf57539..ac509c83 100644
--- a/typings/index.d.ts
+++ b/typings/index.d.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import * as React from 'react';
-import { ReactTestInstance } from 'react-test-renderer';
+import { ReactTestInstance, ReactTestRendererJSON } from 'react-test-renderer';
 
 export interface GetByAPI {
   getByName: (name: React.ReactType) => ReactTestInstance;
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ export interface RenderOptions {
 export interface RenderAPI extends GetByAPI, QueryByAPI {
   update(nextElement: React.ReactElement<any>): void;
   unmount(nextElement?: React.ReactElement<any>): void;
+  toJSON(): ReactTestRendererJSON | null;
 }
 
 export type FireEventFunction = (