diff --git a/includes/MergeHistory.php b/includes/MergeHistory.php
index 85f6b9c9496..c5d44ff6e0d 100644
--- a/includes/MergeHistory.php
+++ b/includes/MergeHistory.php
@@ -579,6 +579,8 @@ class MergeHistory {
 			// fails, it will be communicated in the status reponse.
 			$reason = wfMessage( 'mergehistory-source-deleted-reason' )->inContentLanguage()->plain();
 			$deletionStatus = $newPage->doDeleteArticleReal( $reason, $user );
+			// Notify callers that the source page has been deleted.
+			$status->value = 'source-deleted';
 			$status->merge( $deletionStatus );
 		}
 
diff --git a/includes/specials/SpecialMergeHistory.php b/includes/specials/SpecialMergeHistory.php
index f81ad0d5e74..9008970cc6e 100644
--- a/includes/specials/SpecialMergeHistory.php
+++ b/includes/specials/SpecialMergeHistory.php
@@ -411,9 +411,8 @@ class SpecialMergeHistory extends SpecialPage {
 		);
 
 		// In some cases the target page will be deleted
-		$append = $targetTitle->exists( Title::READ_LATEST )
-			? ''
-			: $this->msg( 'mergehistory-source-deleted', $targetLink );
+		$append = ( $mergeStatus->getValue() === 'source-deleted' )
+			? $this->msg( 'mergehistory-source-deleted', $targetLink ) : '';
 
 		$this->getOutput()->addWikiMsg( $this->msg( 'mergehistory-done' )
 			->rawParams( $targetLink )