diff --git a/api/controllers/v2/github.ts b/api/controllers/v2/github.ts
index f3d3dca3a..2328acf58 100644
--- a/api/controllers/v2/github.ts
+++ b/api/controllers/v2/github.ts
@@ -174,6 +174,14 @@ export const triggerSmokeTestAutomatedBuild = async (event: APIGatewayEvent): Pr
         ' completed successfully but only Deploy Staging ECS workflow completion will trigger smoke test site deployments',
     };
 
+  return {
+    statusCode: 202,
+    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' },
+    body:
+      'Build on branch' +
+      body.workflow_run.head_branch +
+      ' will not trigger site deployments as it was not on master branch in upstream repo',
+  };
   // if the build was not building master, no need for smoke test sites
   if (body.workflow_run.head_branch != 'main' || body.repository.fork) {
     console.log('Build was not on master branch in main repo, sites will not deploy as no smoke tests are needed');