diff --git a/builtin/merge.c b/builtin/merge.c
index 788a6b0cd55334..d44c14a21a3b30 100644
--- a/builtin/merge.c
+++ b/builtin/merge.c
@@ -1709,6 +1709,7 @@ int cmd_merge(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		else
 			fprintf(stderr, _("Merge with strategy %s failed.\n"),
 				use_strategies[0]->name);
+		apply_autostash(git_path_merge_autostash(the_repository));
 		ret = 2;
 		goto done;
 	} else if (best_strategy == wt_strategy)
diff --git a/t/t7600-merge.sh b/t/t7600-merge.sh
index 216113d3537de8..2ef39d3088e806 100755
--- a/t/t7600-merge.sh
+++ b/t/t7600-merge.sh
@@ -732,6 +732,14 @@ test_expect_success 'octopus merge with --autostash' '
 	test_cmp result.1-3-5-9 file
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'failed merge (exit 2) with --autostash' '
+	git reset --hard c1 &&
+	git merge-file file file.orig file.5 &&
+	test_must_fail git merge -s recursive --autostash c2 c3 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep "Applied autostash." err &&
+	test_cmp result.1-5 file
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'conflicted merge with --autostash, --abort restores stash' '
 	git reset --hard c3 &&
 	cp file.1 file &&