diff --git a/.github/workflows/automerge.yml b/.github/workflows/automerge.yml
index 4dd11fc..f8c95f0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/automerge.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/automerge.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   merge:
-    if: github.event.workflow_run.event == 'pull_request' && github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success' && github.event.workflow_run.actor.login == 'dependabot[bot]'
+    if: github.event.workflow_run.event == 'pull_request' && github.event.workflow_run.actor.login == 'dependabot[bot]'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: write
@@ -18,8 +18,17 @@ jobs:
       GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       # nothing is checked out here, so gh has no remote to infer the repo from
       GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+      BRANCH: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_branch }}
+      HEAD_SHA: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_sha }}
     steps:
-      - run: gh pr merge --squash --match-head-commit "$HEAD_SHA" "$BRANCH"
+      - if: github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success'
+        run: gh pr merge --squash --match-head-commit "$HEAD_SHA" "$BRANCH"
+      # a cancelled build or a pull request that has since moved on gets another run, so
+      # neither is worth a mention
+      - if: failure() || github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'failure' || github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'timed_out'
+        run: |
+          if [ "$(gh pr view "$BRANCH" --json state,headRefOid --jq '"\(.state) \(.headRefOid)"')" = "OPEN $HEAD_SHA" ]; then
+            gh pr comment "$BRANCH" --body "@erikbrinkman automerge left this open: $REASON"
+          fi
         env:
-          BRANCH: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_branch }}
-          HEAD_SHA: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.head_sha }}
+          REASON: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success' && 'the merge failed' || 'the build failed' }}