diff --git a/lib/pollTravis.js b/lib/pollTravis.js
index 3c055d32..1b6eab0b 100644
--- a/lib/pollTravis.js
+++ b/lib/pollTravis.js
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ githubClient.authenticate({
   token: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN
 })
 
-function pollThenComment (owner, repoName, prId) {
+exports.pollThenStatus = pollThenStatus
+
+function pollThenStatus (owner, repoName, prId) {
   const prInfo = prInfoStr({ owner, repoName, prId })
 
   // we have to figure out what type of Travis polling we should perform,
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ function pollThenComment (owner, repoName, prId) {
     if (hasAnyPrBuilds) {
       pollByPrThenComment(owner, repoName, prId)
     } else {
-      pollByCommitThenComment(owner, repoName, prId)
+      pollByCommitThenStatus(owner, repoName, prId)
     }
   })
 }
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ function pollByPrThenComment (owner, repoName, prId, checkNumber) {
  *
  * This is the case for readable-stream.
  */
-function pollByCommitThenComment (owner, repoName, prId) {
+function pollByCommitThenStatus (owner, repoName, prId) {
   const prInfo = prInfoStr({ owner, repoName, prId })
 
   githubClient.pullRequests.getCommits({
@@ -111,7 +113,7 @@ function pollByCommitThenComment (owner, repoName, prId) {
 }
 
 function pollTravisBuildBySha (options, checkNumber) {
-  const createGhComment = createGhCommentFn(options)
+  const createGhStatus = createGhStatusFn(options)
   const prInfo = prInfoStr(options)
   const shaToMatch = options.lastSha
 
@@ -138,11 +140,14 @@ function pollTravisBuildBySha (options, checkNumber) {
       const lastState = lastBuildForCommit.state
 
       if (lastState === 'passed') {
-        return createGhComment(`[Travis build passed](https://travis-ci.org/${options.owner}/${options.repoName}/builds/${lastBuildForCommit.id}) :+1:`)
+        return createGhStatus('success', lastBuildForCommit.id, 'all tests passed')
       } else if (lastState === 'failed') {
-        return createGhComment(`[Travis build failed](https://travis-ci.org/${options.owner}/${options.repoName}/builds/${lastBuildForCommit.id}) :-1:`)
+        return createGhStatus('failure', lastBuildForCommit.id, 'build failure')
       } else if (~['created', 'started'].indexOf(lastState)) {
         console.log(`* ${prInfo} "${lastState}" build found, will do check #${checkNumber + 1} in 30 seconds`)
+        if (checkNumber === 1) {
+          createGhStatus('pending', lastBuildForCommit.id, 'build in progress')
+        }
       } else {
         return console.log(`* ${prInfo} Unknown build state: "${lastState}", stopping polling`)
       }
@@ -157,7 +162,7 @@ function pollTravisBuildBySha (options, checkNumber) {
 function createGhCommentFn (options) {
   const prInfo = prInfoStr(options)
 
-  return (message, cb) => {
+  return (message) => {
     githubClient.issues.createComment({
       user: options.owner,
       repo: options.repoName,
@@ -172,8 +177,27 @@ function createGhCommentFn (options) {
   }
 }
 
+function createGhStatusFn (options) {
+  const prInfo = prInfoStr(options)
+
+  return (state, travisId, message) => {
+    githubClient.statuses.create({
+      user: options.owner,
+      repo: options.repoName,
+      sha: options.lastSha,
+      target_url: `https://travis-ci.org/${options.owner}/${options.repoName}/builds/${travisId}`,
+      context: 'Travis CI via nodejs-github-bot',
+      state: state,
+      description: message
+    }, (err, res) => {
+      if (err) {
+        return console.error(`! ${prInfo} Error while updating GitHub PR status`, err.stack)
+      }
+      console.log(`* ${prInfo} Github PR status updated`)
+    })
+  }
+}
+
 function prInfoStr (options) {
   return `${options.owner}/${options.repoName}/#${options.prId}`
 }
-
-exports.pollThenComment = pollThenComment
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index f28a09da..d4811b24 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ app.all('/hooks/github', (req, res) => {
     const repo = req.body.repository
 
     console.log(`* ${repo.owner.login}/${repo.name}/#${req.body.number} Opened, starting build checks!`)
-    pollTravis.pollThenComment(repo.owner.login, repo.name, parseInt(req.body.number))
+    pollTravis.pollThenStatus(repo.owner.login, repo.name, parseInt(req.body.number))
   }
 
   res.end()
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ app.all('/hooks/github', (req, res) => {
 
 // to trigger polling manually
 app.get('/pr/:owner/:repo/:prId', (req, res) => {
-  pollTravis.pollThenComment(req.params.owner, req.params.repo, parseInt(req.params.prId))
+  pollTravis.pollThenStatus(req.params.owner, req.params.repo, parseInt(req.params.prId))
   res.end()
 })