diff --git a/src/de/uni_passau/fim/seibt/gitwrapper/repo/Reference.java b/src/de/uni_passau/fim/seibt/gitwrapper/repo/Reference.java
index d44394d8c33fb3f493430158f5305b13a5531b85..853c05af37856527a033a772fec43d4c1c312e17 100644
--- a/src/de/uni_passau/fim/seibt/gitwrapper/repo/Reference.java
+++ b/src/de/uni_passau/fim/seibt/gitwrapper/repo/Reference.java
@@ -65,25 +65,14 @@ public abstract class Reference {
      * part of the same {@link Repository} this {@link Reference} is.
      *
      * @param other the {@link Reference} to merge
-     * @return <code>false</code>, if the merge failed, or contains conflicts.
+     * @return the {@link Status} of the working directory after the merge
      */
-    public boolean merge(Reference other) {
+    public Optional<Status> merge(Reference other) {
         if (!repo.checkout(this)) {
-            return false;
+            return Optional.empty();
         }
-
         Optional<ProcessExecutor.ExecRes> mergeBase = git.exec(repo.getDir(), "merge", "-n", "-q", other.getId());
-        Function<ProcessExecutor.ExecRes, Boolean> toBoolean = res -> {
-            if (git.failed(res)) {
-                LOG.warning(() -> String.format("Failed to merge %s and %s.", this, other));
-                return null;
-            }
-
-            // if there is no conflict, quiet and no-stat produce no output
-            return res.stdOut.isEmpty();
-        };
-
-        return mergeBase.map(toBoolean).orElse(false);
+        return mergeBase.map(res -> repo.getStatus().orElse(null));
     }