diff --git a/reload.go b/reload.go
index 7c96847..12786f4 100644
--- a/reload.go
+++ b/reload.go
@@ -54,12 +54,30 @@ func (repo *Repo) Reload() error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	repo.VerifyRemoteAndLocalBranches(repo.GetDevelBranchName())
+	repo.VerifyRemoteAndLocalBranches(repo.GetMasterBranchName())
+
 	// LastUpdate should always be the newest time
 	repo.Times.LastUpdate = timestamppb.New(time.Now())
 	repo.ValidateUTF8()
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (repo *Repo) VerifyRemoteAndLocalBranches(bname string) bool {
+	if !repo.IsBranchRemote(bname) {
+		return true
+	}
+	lh := repo.GetLocalHash(bname)
+	rh := repo.GetRemoteHash(bname)
+	if lh == rh {
+		// log.Info(r.FullPath, "local devel == remote devel", lh, rh)
+		return true
+	} else {
+		log.Info(repo.FullPath, bname, "local != remote", lh, rh)
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 func (repo *Repo) SetDevelBranchName(bname string) {
 	repo.DevelBranchName = bname
 }
diff --git a/repo.merge.go b/repo.merge.go
index fe1e0ed..5dd65a2 100644
--- a/repo.merge.go
+++ b/repo.merge.go
@@ -58,7 +58,15 @@ func (r *Repo) MergeToMaster() (*cmd.Status, error) {
 	if r.GetReadOnly() {
 		r.Reload() // rescan the repo
 		// master branch is read only. you can not git push
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("can't merge to master on read only() repos")
+		lh := r.GetLocalHash("devel")
+		rh := r.GetRemoteHash("devel")
+		if lh == rh {
+			// log.Info(r.FullPath, "local devel == remote devel", lh, rh)
+		} else {
+			log.Info(r.FullPath, "local devel != remote devel", lh, rh)
+		}
+		log.Info("can't merge to master on read only() repos. trying anyway")
+		// return nil, fmt.Errorf("can't merge to master on read only() repos")
 	}
 	if r.CheckDirty() {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("repo is dirty")