diff --git a/src/app/rpmostree-builtin-status.c b/src/app/rpmostree-builtin-status.c
index 19f6d776..a3b87b4d 100644
--- a/src/app/rpmostree-builtin-status.c
+++ b/src/app/rpmostree-builtin-status.c
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ static gboolean opt_verbose_advisories;
 static gboolean opt_json;
 static gboolean opt_only_booted;
 static const char *opt_jsonpath;
+static gboolean opt_pending_exit_77;
 
 static GOptionEntry option_entries[] = {
   { "pretty", 'p', G_OPTION_FLAG_HIDDEN, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opt_pretty, "This option is deprecated and no longer has any effect", NULL },
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ static GOptionEntry option_entries[] = {
   { "json", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opt_json, "Output JSON", NULL },
   { "jsonpath", 'J', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &opt_jsonpath, "Filter JSONPath expression", "EXPRESSION" },
   { "booted", 'b', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opt_only_booted, "Only print the booted deployment", NULL },
+  { "pending-exit-77", 'b', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opt_pending_exit_77, "If pending deployment available, exit 77", NULL },
   { NULL }
 };
 
@@ -1026,5 +1028,18 @@ rpmostree_builtin_status (int             argc,
         }
     }
 
+  if (opt_pending_exit_77)
+    {
+      if (g_variant_n_children (deployments) > 1)
+        {
+          g_autoptr(GVariant) pending = g_variant_get_child_value (deployments, 0);
+          g_auto(GVariantDict) dict;
+          g_variant_dict_init (&dict, pending);
+          gboolean is_booted;
+          if (g_variant_dict_lookup (&dict, "booted", "b", &is_booted) && !is_booted)
+            invocation->exit_code = RPM_OSTREE_EXIT_PENDING;
+        }
+    }
+
   return TRUE;
 }
diff --git a/src/app/rpmostree-builtin-types.h b/src/app/rpmostree-builtin-types.h
index 9d346f33..cfde72ee 100644
--- a/src/app/rpmostree-builtin-types.h
+++ b/src/app/rpmostree-builtin-types.h
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
  * Use alongside EXIT_SUCCESS and EXIT_FAILURE. */
 #define RPM_OSTREE_EXIT_UNCHANGED  (77)
 
+/* Exit code for when a pending deployment can be rebooted into. */
+#define RPM_OSTREE_EXIT_PENDING  (77)
+
 typedef enum {
   RPM_OSTREE_BUILTIN_FLAG_NONE = 0,
   RPM_OSTREE_BUILTIN_FLAG_LOCAL_CMD = 1 << 0,
diff --git a/tests/vmcheck/test-layering-basic-1.sh b/tests/vmcheck/test-layering-basic-1.sh
index 32bae52e..0feb0368 100755
--- a/tests/vmcheck/test-layering-basic-1.sh
+++ b/tests/vmcheck/test-layering-basic-1.sh
@@ -90,13 +90,25 @@ vm_rpmostree db diff --format=diff \
 assert_file_has_content_literal 'db-diff.txt' "+foo-1.0-1.x86_64"
 echo "ok pkg-add foo"
 
-# Test that we don't do progress bars if on a tty (with the client)
 vm_rpmostree uninstall foo-1.0
+
+# Test `rpm-ostree status --pending-exit-77`
+rc=0
+vm_rpmostree status --pending-exit-77 || rc=$?
+assert_streq $rc 77
+
+# Test that we don't do progress bars if on a tty (with the client)
 vm_rpmostree install foo-1.0 > foo-install.txt
 assert_file_has_content_literal foo-install.txt 'Checking out packages (1/1) 100%'
 echo "ok install not on a tty"
 
 vm_reboot
+
+# Test `rpm-ostree status --pending-exit-77`, with no actual pending deployment
+rc=0
+vm_rpmostree status --pending-exit-77 || rc=$?
+assert_streq $rc 0
+
 vm_assert_status_jq \
   '.deployments[0]["base-checksum"]' \
   '.deployments[0]["pending-base-checksum"]|not' \