diff --git a/lib/workers/branch/automerge.js b/lib/workers/branch/automerge.js
index b9f94eec863d52433d4fd6850e1a26d59ff293b0..7d22e0990d88e08994dd83cfca45e519818635b6 100644
--- a/lib/workers/branch/automerge.js
+++ b/lib/workers/branch/automerge.js
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ async function tryBranchAutomerge(config) {
       logger.info({ err }, `Failed to automerge branch`);
       return 'failed';
     }
+  } else if (['failure', 'error'].includes(branchStatus)) {
+    return 'branch status error';
   } else {
     logger.debug(`Branch status is "${branchStatus}" - skipping automerge`);
   }
diff --git a/lib/workers/branch/index.js b/lib/workers/branch/index.js
index bf6d48cff93374f012ec4585e12f72b07378de99..913765e08c49ce51263a36d2c1115ba21dae6504 100644
--- a/lib/workers/branch/index.js
+++ b/lib/workers/branch/index.js
@@ -177,10 +177,12 @@ async function processBranch(branchConfig, packageFiles) {
       return 'automerged';
     } else if (
       mergeStatus === 'automerge aborted - PR exists' ||
+      mergeStatus === 'branch status error' ||
       mergeStatus === 'failed'
     ) {
       logger.info({ mergeStatus }, 'Branch automerge not possible');
       config.forcePr = true;
+      config.branchAutomergeFailureMessage = mergeStatus;
     }
   } catch (err) /* istanbul ignore next */ {
     if (err.message === 'rate-limit-exceeded') {
diff --git a/lib/workers/pr/index.js b/lib/workers/pr/index.js
index f39462fb35e07305150aa34af493b92b228fb5c2..661da99d154cb4369f73ef615b106fac74385119 100644
--- a/lib/workers/pr/index.js
+++ b/lib/workers/pr/index.js
@@ -293,6 +293,16 @@ async function ensurePr(prConfig) {
       }
       return null;
     }
+    if (config.branchAutomergeFailureMessage) {
+      const subject = 'Branch automerge failure';
+      let content =
+        'This PR was configured for branch automerge, however this is not possible so it has been raised as a PR instead.';
+      if (config.branchAutomergeFailureMessage === 'branch status error') {
+        content += '\n___\n * Branch has one or more failed status checks';
+      }
+      logger.info('Adding branch automerge failure message to PR');
+      platform.ensureComment(pr.number, subject, content);
+    }
     // Skip assign and review if automerging PR
     if (config.automerge && branchStatus !== 'failure') {
       logger.debug(
diff --git a/test/workers/branch/automerge.spec.js b/test/workers/branch/automerge.spec.js
index fc10e0fc0629fa16385787817655af9a6a075430..b86c18ef9720724fdcfa872c2c8c749b91deaa10 100644
--- a/test/workers/branch/automerge.spec.js
+++ b/test/workers/branch/automerge.spec.js
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ describe('workers/branch/automerge', () => {
       platform.getBranchStatus.mockReturnValueOnce('pending');
       expect(await tryBranchAutomerge(config)).toBe('no automerge');
     });
+    it('returns branch status error if branch status is failure', async () => {
+      config.automerge = true;
+      config.automergeType = 'branch-push';
+      platform.getBranchStatus.mockReturnValueOnce('failure');
+      expect(await tryBranchAutomerge(config)).toBe('branch status error');
+    });
     it('returns false if PR exists', async () => {
       platform.getBranchPr.mockReturnValueOnce({});
       config.automerge = true;
diff --git a/test/workers/pr/index.spec.js b/test/workers/pr/index.spec.js
index fac8cb0bd19be355fc382e58a156972ec179ba34..044a4ee95faa1e9bcf2d1e63dcf632b2f4d96a81 100644
--- a/test/workers/pr/index.spec.js
+++ b/test/workers/pr/index.spec.js
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ describe('workers/pr', () => {
     it('should create PR if branch tests failed', async () => {
       config.automerge = true;
       config.automergeType = 'branch-push';
+      config.branchAutomergeFailureMessage = 'branch status error';
       platform.getBranchStatus.mockReturnValueOnce('failure');
       const pr = await prWorker.ensurePr(config);
       expect(pr).toMatchObject({ displayNumber: 'New Pull Request' });