diff --git a/lib/workers/package/npm.js b/lib/workers/package/npm.js
index 97b889d022ac3003a07c9364991095ff1641196c..eeefc00d7e54c845bb9e3ec21cfcf4cda4ebc997 100644
--- a/lib/workers/package/npm.js
+++ b/lib/workers/package/npm.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ async function renovateNpmPackage(config) {
   } else {
     // If dependency lookup fails then warn and return
     const result = {
-      type: 'error',
+      type: 'warning',
       message: 'Failed to look up dependency',
     };
     if (config.hasYarnLock || config.hasPackageLock) {
diff --git a/test/workers/package/__snapshots__/npm.spec.js.snap b/test/workers/package/__snapshots__/npm.spec.js.snap
index bbcf818ac23dd2be284978a7d21027871036a53e..df7ce9d2cd064aea6c429e234dbd81438d6078da 100644
--- a/test/workers/package/__snapshots__/npm.spec.js.snap
+++ b/test/workers/package/__snapshots__/npm.spec.js.snap
@@ -6,22 +6,32 @@ Array [
 ]
 `;
 
-exports[`lib/workers/package/npm renovateNpmPackage returns error if no npm dep found 1`] = `
+exports[`lib/workers/package/npm renovateNpmPackage returns error if no npm scoped dep found 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
     "message": "Failed to look up dependency. This will block *all* dependencies from being updated due to presence of lock file.",
     "repositoryUrl": null,
-    "type": "error",
+    "type": "warning",
   },
 ]
 `;
 
-exports[`lib/workers/package/npm renovateNpmPackage returns error if no npm scoped dep found 1`] = `
+exports[`lib/workers/package/npm renovateNpmPackage returns warning if no npm dep found 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Object {
+    "message": "Failed to look up dependency",
+    "repositoryUrl": null,
+    "type": "warning",
+  },
+]
+`;
+
+exports[`lib/workers/package/npm renovateNpmPackage returns warning if no npm dep found and lock file 1`] = `
 Array [
   Object {
     "message": "Failed to look up dependency. This will block *all* dependencies from being updated due to presence of lock file.",
     "repositoryUrl": null,
-    "type": "error",
+    "type": "warning",
   },
 ]
 `;
diff --git a/test/workers/package/npm.spec.js b/test/workers/package/npm.spec.js
index e89276626c0e24675733c458481a76fdf7f0c2e8..392030e1a92a275ff79a3c7cd86fd310602f111a 100644
--- a/test/workers/package/npm.spec.js
+++ b/test/workers/package/npm.spec.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ describe('lib/workers/package/npm', () => {
   describe('renovateNpmPackage', () => {
     let config;
     beforeEach(() => {
+      jest.resetAllMocks();
       config = {
         ...defaultConfig,
         logger,
@@ -24,12 +25,19 @@ describe('lib/workers/package/npm', () => {
       const res = await npm.renovateNpmPackage(config);
       expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
     });
-    it('returns error if no npm dep found', async () => {
+    it('returns warning if no npm dep found', async () => {
+      const res = await npm.renovateNpmPackage(config);
+      expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
+      expect(res).toHaveLength(1);
+      expect(res[0].type).toEqual('warning');
+      expect(npmApi.getDependency.mock.calls.length).toBe(1);
+    });
+    it('returns warning if no npm dep found and lock file', async () => {
       config.hasPackageLock = true;
       const res = await npm.renovateNpmPackage(config);
       expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
       expect(res).toHaveLength(1);
-      expect(res[0].type).toEqual('error');
+      expect(res[0].type).toEqual('warning');
       expect(npmApi.getDependency.mock.calls.length).toBe(1);
     });
     it('returns error if no npm scoped dep found', async () => {
@@ -38,7 +46,7 @@ describe('lib/workers/package/npm', () => {
       const res = await npm.renovateNpmPackage(config);
       expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
       expect(res).toHaveLength(1);
-      expect(res[0].type).toEqual('error');
+      expect(res[0].type).toEqual('warning');
     });
     it('returns warning if warning found', async () => {
       npmApi.getDependency.mockReturnValueOnce({});