diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 1c40d1a..48ceb2b 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ var TYPES = config.types || ['feat', 'fix', 'docs', 'style', 'refactor', 'perf',
 
 // fixup! and squash! are part of Git, commits tagged with them are not intended to be merged, cf. https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit
 var PATTERN = /^((fixup! |squash! )?(\w+)(?:\(([^\)\s]+)\))?: (.+))(?:\n|$)/;
-
+var MERGE_COMMIT_PATTERN = /^Merge branch \'.*\' into .*$/;
 var error = function() {
   // gitx does not display it
   // http://gitx.lighthouseapp.com/projects/17830/tickets/294-feature-display-hook-error-message-when-hook-fails
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ var validateMessage = function(raw) {
 
   var isValid = true;
 
+  if(MERGE_COMMIT_PATTERN.test(message)){
+    console.log('Merge commit detected.');
+    return true
+  }
+
   if (IGNORED.test(message)) {
     console.log('Commit message validation ignored.');
     return true;
diff --git a/index.test.js b/index.test.js
index 1118038..b2cddb0 100644
--- a/index.test.js
+++ b/index.test.js
@@ -162,6 +162,12 @@ describe('validate-commit-msg.js', function() {
       expect(m.validateMessage('fixup! fix($compile): something')).to.equal(VALID);
       expect(m.validateMessage('squash! fix($compile): something super mega extra giga tera long, maybe even longer and longer and longer...')).to.equal(VALID);
     });
+
+    it('should handle merge commits', function() {
+      expect(m.validateMessage('Merge branch \'master\' into validate-commit-msg-integration')).to.equal(VALID);
+      expect(m.validateMessage('Merge branch master into validate-commit-msg-integration')).to.equal(INVALID);
+      expect(m.validateMessage('Merge branch \'master\' into validate-commit_msg-integration')).to.equal(VALID);
+    });
   });
 
   afterEach(function() {