diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5d76d95c..244ce95a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -156,6 +156,9 @@ The following merge options are supported:
   be deleted. This is not the list of GitHub's protected branches, which are never
   deleted, but an additional list of branches to protect. The default value is `""`.
 
+- `MERGE_ERROR_FAIL`: Set this to `true` to have the action exit with error code `1`
+  when the pull request could not be merged successfully during a run.
+
 The following update options are supported:
 
 - `UPDATE_LABELS`: The labels that need to be present for a pull request to be
diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index 17cad705..e23f091b 100755
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -663,6 +663,7 @@ function createConfig(env = {}) {
   const mergeDeleteBranchFilter = parseArray(env.MERGE_DELETE_BRANCH_FILTER);
   const mergeMethodLabels = parseLabelMethods(env.MERGE_METHOD_LABELS);
   const mergeMethodLabelRequired = env.MERGE_METHOD_LABEL_REQUIRED === "true";
+  const mergeErrorFail = env.MERGE_ERROR_FAIL === "true";
 
   const updateLabels = parseMergeLabels(env.UPDATE_LABELS, "automerge");
   const updateMethod = env.UPDATE_METHOD || "merge";
@@ -688,6 +689,7 @@ function createConfig(env = {}) {
     mergeRequiredApprovals,
     mergeDeleteBranch,
     mergeDeleteBranchFilter,
+    mergeErrorFail,
     updateLabels,
     updateMethod,
     updateRetries,
@@ -753,11 +755,6 @@ function sleep(ms) {
   return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
 }
 
-function fail(message) {
-  logger.error(message);
-  process.exit(1);
-}
-
 module.exports = {
   ClientError,
   TimeoutError,
@@ -1011,7 +1008,8 @@ async function merge(context, pullRequest, approvalCount) {
       mergeFilterAuthor,
       mergeRemoveLabels,
       mergeRetries,
-      mergeRetrySleep
+      mergeRetrySleep,
+      mergeErrorFail
     }
   } = context;
 
@@ -1054,6 +1052,7 @@ async function merge(context, pullRequest, approvalCount) {
     mergeMethod,
     mergeRetries,
     mergeRetrySleep,
+    mergeErrorFail,
     commitMessage
   );
   if (!merged) {
@@ -1234,7 +1233,7 @@ function skipPullRequest(context, pullRequest, approvalCount) {
 function waitUntilReady(pullRequest, context) {
   const {
     octokit,
-    config: { mergeRetries, mergeRetrySleep }
+    config: { mergeRetries, mergeRetrySleep, mergeErrorFail }
   } = context;
 
   return retry(
@@ -1245,7 +1244,7 @@ function waitUntilReady(pullRequest, context) {
       const pr = await getPullRequest(octokit, pullRequest);
       return checkReady(pr, context);
     },
-    () => fail(`PR not ready to be merged after ${mergeRetries} tries`)
+    () => failOrInfo(mergeRetries, mergeErrorFail)
   );
 }
 
@@ -1290,6 +1289,7 @@ function tryMerge(
   mergeMethod,
   mergeRetries,
   mergeRetrySleep,
+  mergeErrorFail,
   commitMessage
 ) {
   return retry(
@@ -1310,10 +1310,20 @@ function tryMerge(
         commitMessage
       );
     },
-    () => fail(`PR could not be merged after ${mergeRetries} tries`)
+    () => failOrInfo(mergeRetries, mergeErrorFail)
   );
 }
 
+function failOrInfo(mergeRetries, mergeErrorFail) {
+  const message = `PR not ready to be merged after ${mergeRetries} tries`;
+  if (mergeErrorFail) {
+    logger.error(message);
+    process.exit(1);
+  } else {
+    logger.info(message);
+  }
+}
+
 function getMergeMethod(defaultMergeMethod, mergeMethodLabels, pullRequest) {
   const foundMergeMethodLabels = pullRequest.labels.flatMap(l =>
     mergeMethodLabels.filter(ml => ml.label === l.name)
diff --git a/it/it.js b/it/it.js
index fbb86bec..8c428744 100644
--- a/it/it.js
+++ b/it/it.js
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ async function main() {
     MERGE_REQUIRED_APPROVALS: "0",
     MERGE_REMOVE_LABELS: "it-merge",
     MERGE_RETRIES: "3",
-    MERGE_RETRY_SLEEP: "2000"
+    MERGE_RETRY_SLEEP: "2000",
+    MERGE_ERROR_FAIL: "true"
   });
 
   const context = { token, octokit, config };
diff --git a/lib/common.js b/lib/common.js
index 0aea17be..30eda48b 100644
--- a/lib/common.js
+++ b/lib/common.js
@@ -43,13 +43,11 @@ const logger = {
   info: (...str) => log("INFO ", str),
 
   error: (...str) => {
-    if (str.length === 1) {
-      if (str[0] instanceof Error) {
-        if (logger.level === "trace" || logger.level === "debug") {
-          log(null, [str[0].stack || str[0]]);
-        } else {
-          log("ERROR", [str[0].message || str[0]]);
-        }
+    if (str.length === 1 && str[0] instanceof Error) {
+      if (logger.level === "trace" || logger.level === "debug") {
+        log(null, [str[0].stack || str[0]]);
+      } else {
+        log("ERROR", [str[0].message || str[0]]);
       }
     } else {
       log("ERROR", str);
@@ -173,6 +171,7 @@ function createConfig(env = {}) {
   const mergeDeleteBranchFilter = parseArray(env.MERGE_DELETE_BRANCH_FILTER);
   const mergeMethodLabels = parseLabelMethods(env.MERGE_METHOD_LABELS);
   const mergeMethodLabelRequired = env.MERGE_METHOD_LABEL_REQUIRED === "true";
+  const mergeErrorFail = env.MERGE_ERROR_FAIL === "true";
 
   const updateLabels = parseMergeLabels(env.UPDATE_LABELS, "automerge");
   const updateMethod = env.UPDATE_METHOD || "merge";
@@ -198,6 +197,7 @@ function createConfig(env = {}) {
     mergeRequiredApprovals,
     mergeDeleteBranch,
     mergeDeleteBranchFilter,
+    mergeErrorFail,
     updateLabels,
     updateMethod,
     updateRetries,
@@ -263,11 +263,6 @@ function sleep(ms) {
   return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
 }
 
-function fail(message) {
-  logger.error(message);
-  process.exit(1);
-}
-
 module.exports = {
   ClientError,
   TimeoutError,
diff --git a/lib/merge.js b/lib/merge.js
index 7d49ed03..369033b6 100644
--- a/lib/merge.js
+++ b/lib/merge.js
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ async function merge(context, pullRequest, approvalCount) {
       mergeFilterAuthor,
       mergeRemoveLabels,
       mergeRetries,
-      mergeRetrySleep
+      mergeRetrySleep,
+      mergeErrorFail
     }
   } = context;
 
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ async function merge(context, pullRequest, approvalCount) {
     mergeMethod,
     mergeRetries,
     mergeRetrySleep,
+    mergeErrorFail,
     commitMessage
   );
   if (!merged) {
@@ -258,7 +260,7 @@ function skipPullRequest(context, pullRequest, approvalCount) {
 function waitUntilReady(pullRequest, context) {
   const {
     octokit,
-    config: { mergeRetries, mergeRetrySleep }
+    config: { mergeRetries, mergeRetrySleep, mergeErrorFail }
   } = context;
 
   return retry(
@@ -269,7 +271,7 @@ function waitUntilReady(pullRequest, context) {
       const pr = await getPullRequest(octokit, pullRequest);
       return checkReady(pr, context);
     },
-    () => fail(`PR not ready to be merged after ${mergeRetries} tries`)
+    () => failOrInfo(mergeRetries, mergeErrorFail)
   );
 }
 
@@ -314,6 +316,7 @@ function tryMerge(
   mergeMethod,
   mergeRetries,
   mergeRetrySleep,
+  mergeErrorFail,
   commitMessage
 ) {
   return retry(
@@ -334,10 +337,20 @@ function tryMerge(
         commitMessage
       );
     },
-    () => fail(`PR could not be merged after ${mergeRetries} tries`)
+    () => failOrInfo(mergeRetries, mergeErrorFail)
   );
 }
 
+function failOrInfo(mergeRetries, mergeErrorFail) {
+  const message = `PR not ready to be merged after ${mergeRetries} tries`;
+  if (mergeErrorFail) {
+    logger.error(message);
+    process.exit(1);
+  } else {
+    logger.info(message);
+  }
+}
+
 function getMergeMethod(defaultMergeMethod, mergeMethodLabels, pullRequest) {
   const foundMergeMethodLabels = pullRequest.labels.flatMap(l =>
     mergeMethodLabels.filter(ml => ml.label === l.name)
diff --git a/test/common.test.js b/test/common.test.js
index 5d84b228..efaa809d 100644
--- a/test/common.test.js
+++ b/test/common.test.js
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ test("createConfig", () => {
     mergeCommitMessageRegex: "",
     mergeDeleteBranch: false,
     mergeDeleteBranchFilter: [],
+    mergeErrorFail: false,
     mergeRetries: 3,
     mergeRetrySleep: 5000,
     mergeRequiredApprovals: 0,
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ test("createConfig with arbitrary pull request (as string)", () => {
     mergeCommitMessageRegex: "",
     mergeDeleteBranch: false,
     mergeDeleteBranchFilter: [],
+    mergeErrorFail: false,
     mergeRetries: 3,
     mergeRetrySleep: 5000,
     mergeRequiredApprovals: 0,
@@ -99,6 +101,7 @@ test("createConfig with arbitrary pull request (as number)", () => {
     mergeCommitMessageRegex: "",
     mergeDeleteBranch: false,
     mergeDeleteBranchFilter: [],
+    mergeErrorFail: false,
     mergeRetries: 3,
     mergeRetrySleep: 5000,
     mergeRequiredApprovals: 0,
@@ -139,6 +142,7 @@ test("createConfig with arbitrary pull request in another repo", () => {
     mergeCommitMessageRegex: "",
     mergeDeleteBranch: false,
     mergeDeleteBranchFilter: [],
+    mergeErrorFail: false,
     mergeRetries: 3,
     mergeRetrySleep: 5000,
     mergeRequiredApprovals: 0,
diff --git a/test/merge.test.js b/test/merge.test.js
index 0311bda1..7ee583ec 100644
--- a/test/merge.test.js
+++ b/test/merge.test.js
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ test("Unmergeable pull request fails action with non-zero exit code", async () =
   // GIVEN
   const pr = pullRequest();
   pr.mergeable_state = "blocked";
-  const config = createConfig();
+  const config = createConfig({ MERGE_ERROR_FAIL: "true" });
   octokit.pulls.get = async () => ({ data: pr });
 
   // Reduce retry wait period to 1ms to prevent test timeout
@@ -287,10 +287,14 @@ test("Unmergeable pull request fails action with non-zero exit code", async () =
         `process.exit was called with status code: ${statusCode}`
       );
     });
+
   try {
     await merge({ config, octokit }, pr, 0);
   } catch (e) {
     expect(e).toEqual(new Error("process.exit was called with status code: 1"));
     expect(mockExit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1);
+    return;
   }
+
+  throw new Error("process.exit was not called!");
 });