diff --git a/lib/platform/git/storage.js b/lib/platform/git/storage.js
index 137b5fddd27668008b849c28d7e4bb9a98cd1d4e..d8fd71d713099ed50563bfbc4e6465b159d02084 100644
--- a/lib/platform/git/storage.js
+++ b/lib/platform/git/storage.js
@@ -193,12 +193,13 @@ class Storage {
       try {
         await git.raw(['push', '--delete', 'origin', branchName]);
       } catch (err) /* istanbul ignore next */ {
-        logger.warn({ branchName, err }, 'Error deleting remote branch');
+        logger.info({ branchName, err }, 'Error deleting remote branch');
+        throw new Error('repository-changed');
       }
       try {
         await deleteLocalBranch(branchName);
-      } catch (ex) {
-        logger.debug({ branchName }, 'Could not delete remote branch');
+      } catch (err) {
+        logger.debug({ branchName, err }, 'Could not delete local branch');
       }
     }