diff --git a/builtin/merge.c b/builtin/merge.c
index d9784d4891..fcd87a2a09 100644
--- a/builtin/merge.c
+++ b/builtin/merge.c
@@ -493,7 +493,8 @@ static void finish(struct commit *head_commit,
 	/* Run a post-merge hook */
 	run_hooks_l("post-merge", squash ? "1" : "0", NULL);
 
-	apply_autostash(git_path_merge_autostash(the_repository));
+	if (new_head)
+		apply_autostash(git_path_merge_autostash(the_repository));
 	strbuf_release(&reflog_message);
 }
 
@@ -1756,6 +1757,8 @@ int cmd_merge(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			"stopped before committing as requested\n"));
 	else
 		ret = suggest_conflicts();
+	if (autostash)
+		printf(_("When finished, apply stashed changes with `git stash pop`\n"));
 
 done:
 	if (!automerge_was_ok) {
diff --git a/t/t7600-merge.sh b/t/t7600-merge.sh
index f0f6fda150..7c3f6ed994 100755
--- a/t/t7600-merge.sh
+++ b/t/t7600-merge.sh
@@ -255,6 +255,15 @@ test_expect_success 'merge --squash c3 with c7' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'merge --squash --autostash conflict does not attempt to apply autostash' '
+	git reset --hard c3 &&
+	>unrelated &&
+	git add unrelated &&
+	test_must_fail git merge --squash c7 --autostash >out 2>err &&
+	! grep "Applying autostash resulted in conflicts." err &&
+	grep "When finished, apply stashed changes with \`git stash pop\`" out
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'merge c3 with c7 with commit.cleanup = scissors' '
 	git config commit.cleanup scissors &&
 	git reset --hard c3 &&