diff --git a/lib/platform/github/index.js b/lib/platform/github/index.js
index 348562512b27954f4df3c29a64f11f893e954f69..23ea6e092b3ede32d86157b24b9817755646270c 100644
--- a/lib/platform/github/index.js
+++ b/lib/platform/github/index.js
@@ -798,6 +798,7 @@ async function createPr(
   // istanbul ignore if
   if (config.forkToken) {
     options.token = config.forkToken;
+    options.body.maintainer_can_modify = true;
   }
   logger.debug({ title, head, base }, 'Creating PR');
   const pr = (await get.post(