diff --git a/lib/workers/branch/automerge.js b/lib/workers/branch/automerge.js
index 90a1f61d5a965f3ecd8137420832587d90dc52e0..c4fcb845d58c7ea0b6b3c8843560f0ec4be7dd17 100644
--- a/lib/workers/branch/automerge.js
+++ b/lib/workers/branch/automerge.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ async function tryBranchAutomerge(config) {
   if (!config.automerge || config.automergeType === 'pr') {
     return 'no automerge';
   }
-  const existingPr = config.api.getBranchPr(config.branchName);
+  const existingPr = await config.api.getBranchPr(config.branchName);
   if (existingPr) {
     return 'automerge aborted - PR exists';
   }