diff --git a/lib/workers/branch/auto-replace.spec.ts b/lib/workers/branch/auto-replace.spec.ts
index 072148d5f18a6c9580720a33ccb17f9d5402ba45..c0c5941adff33885ea59debc6bd271e0cc3ef1cd 100644
--- a/lib/workers/branch/auto-replace.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/branch/auto-replace.spec.ts
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ describe('workers/branch/auto-replace', () => {
       const res = await doAutoReplace(upgrade, srcAlreadyUpdated, parentBranch);
       expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
     });
-    it('throws if replaceString mismatch', async () => {
+    it('returns existing content if replaceString mismatch', async () => {
       const script =
         '<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/reactstrap/7.1.0/reactstrap.min.js">';
       const src = `     ${script}   `;
@@ -84,9 +84,8 @@ describe('workers/branch/auto-replace', () => {
         depIndex: 0,
         replaceString: script,
       };
-      await expect(
-        doAutoReplace(upgrade, 'wrong source', parentBranch)
-      ).rejects.toThrow();
+      const res = await doAutoReplace(upgrade, 'wrong source', parentBranch);
+      expect(res).toEqual('wrong source');
     });
     it('updates version and integrity', async () => {
       const script =
diff --git a/lib/workers/branch/auto-replace.ts b/lib/workers/branch/auto-replace.ts
index 726329fce88acdf0b6ba5b4736d885b49dadbb0b..2023b5556d93e78bfb6dd553c171207884529344 100644
--- a/lib/workers/branch/auto-replace.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/branch/auto-replace.ts
@@ -93,11 +93,11 @@ export async function doAutoReplace(
   logger.trace({ depName, replaceString }, 'autoReplace replaceString');
   let searchIndex = existingContent.indexOf(replaceString);
   if (searchIndex === -1) {
-    logger.error(
+    logger.warn(
       { depName },
       'Cannot find replaceString in current file content'
     );
-    throw new Error(WORKER_FILE_UPDATE_FAILED);
+    return existingContent;
   }
   try {
     let newString = replaceString.replace(