diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 989e93276c..7ac8224c06 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+## Fixed
+- appropriate error message when pulling deleted remote branch ([#911](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/991))
+
 ## [0.17.1] - 2021-09-10
 
 **fuzzy find files**
diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index c0d0db9efe..c47ed3bc11 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ impl App {
 			self.compare_commits_popup.update_git(ev)?;
 			self.push_popup.update_git(ev)?;
 			self.push_tags_popup.update_git(ev)?;
-			self.pull_popup.update_git(ev)?;
+			self.pull_popup.update_git(ev);
 			self.select_branch_popup.update_git(ev)?;
 		}
 
@@ -686,7 +686,11 @@ impl App {
 				flags.insert(NeedsUpdate::ALL);
 			}
 			InternalEvent::Pull(branch) => {
-				self.pull_popup.fetch(branch)?;
+				if let Err(error) = self.pull_popup.fetch(branch) {
+					self.queue.push(InternalEvent::ShowErrorMsg(
+						error.to_string(),
+					));
+				}
 				flags.insert(NeedsUpdate::ALL);
 			}
 			InternalEvent::PushTags => {
diff --git a/src/components/pull.rs b/src/components/pull.rs
index 05b1b7a716..05d4c84fb2 100644
--- a/src/components/pull.rs
+++ b/src/components/pull.rs
@@ -110,17 +110,18 @@ impl PullComponent {
 	}
 
 	///
-	pub fn update_git(
-		&mut self,
-		ev: AsyncGitNotification,
-	) -> Result<()> {
+	pub fn update_git(&mut self, ev: AsyncGitNotification) {
 		if self.is_visible() {
 			if let AsyncGitNotification::Fetch = ev {
-				self.update()?;
+				if let Err(error) = self.update() {
+					self.pending = false;
+					self.hide();
+					self.queue.push(InternalEvent::ShowErrorMsg(
+						format!("fetch failed:\n{}", error),
+					));
+				}
 			}
 		}
-
-		Ok(())
 	}
 
 	///
@@ -135,11 +136,7 @@ impl PullComponent {
 				if err.is_empty() {
 					self.try_ff_merge()?;
 				} else {
-					self.pending = false;
-					self.hide();
-					self.queue.push(InternalEvent::ShowErrorMsg(
-						format!("fetch failed:\n{}", err),
-					));
+					anyhow::bail!(err);
 				}
 			}
 		}