diff --git a/docs/getting-started-publishing.md b/docs/getting-started-publishing.md
index ee1a1e98c6..03e0879c5b 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started-publishing.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started-publishing.md
@@ -162,8 +162,17 @@ Now, whenever a new commit lands in `master`, CircleCI will run your suite of te
 
 ### Tips & Tricks
 
-When initially deploying to a `gh-pages` branch using Circle CI, you may notice that some jobs triggered by commits to the `gh-pages` branch fail to run successfully due to a lack of tests. You can easily work around this by creating a basic Circle CI config with the following contents:
+When initially deploying to a `gh-pages` branch using Circle CI, you may notice that some jobs triggered by commits to the `gh-pages` branch fail to run successfully due to a lack of tests (This can also result in chat/slack build failure notifications).
 
+You can work around this easily by:
+- Setting the environment variable `CUSTOM_COMMIT_MESSAGE` flag to the `publish-gh-pages` command with the contents of `[skip ci]`.
+e.g. 
+```bash
+CUSTOM_COMMIT_MESSAGE="[skip ci]" \
+  yarn run publish-gh-pages # or `npm run publish-gh-pages`
+```
+
+- Alternatively you can work around this by creating a basic Circle CI config with the following contents:
 ```yaml
 # Circle CI 2.0 Config File
 # This config file will prevent tests from being run on the gh-pages branch.
diff --git a/v1/lib/publish-gh-pages.js b/v1/lib/publish-gh-pages.js
index 82b5e9d985..79d2494fe1 100755
--- a/v1/lib/publish-gh-pages.js
+++ b/v1/lib/publish-gh-pages.js
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ const GITHUB_DOMAIN = 'github.com';
 // For GitHub enterprise, allow specifying a different host.
 const GITHUB_HOST =
   process.env.GITHUB_HOST || siteConfig.githubHost || GITHUB_DOMAIN;
+const CUSTOM_COMMIT_MESSAGE = process.env.CUSTOM_COMMIT_MESSAGE;
 
 if (!ORGANIZATION_NAME) {
   shell.echo(
@@ -166,8 +167,9 @@ fs.copy(
     shell.cd(path.join('build', `${PROJECT_NAME}-${DEPLOYMENT_BRANCH}`));
     shell.exec('git add --all');
 
+    const commitMessage = CUSTOM_COMMIT_MESSAGE || 'Deploy website';
     const commitResults = shell.exec(
-      `git commit -m "Deploy website" -m "Deploy website version based on ${currentCommit}"`,
+      `git commit -m "${commitMessage}" -m "Deploy website version based on ${currentCommit}"`,
     );
     if (shell.exec(`git push origin ${DEPLOYMENT_BRANCH}`).code !== 0) {
       shell.echo('Error: Git push failed');
diff --git a/v2/lib/commands/deploy.js b/v2/lib/commands/deploy.js
index 384937cdba..1f32105b2a 100644
--- a/v2/lib/commands/deploy.js
+++ b/v2/lib/commands/deploy.js
@@ -158,8 +158,10 @@ module.exports = async function deploy(siteDir) {
           shell.cd(path.join('build', `${projectName}-${deploymentBranch}`));
           shell.exec('git add --all');
 
+          const commitMessage =
+            process.env.CUSTOM_COMMIT_MESSAGE || 'Deploy website';
           const commitResults = shell.exec(
-            `git commit -m "Deploy website" -m "Deploy website version based on ${currentCommit}"`,
+            `git commit -m "${commitMessage}" -m "Deploy website version based on ${currentCommit}"`,
           );
           if (shell.exec(`git push origin ${deploymentBranch}`).code !== 0) {
             throw new Error('Error: Git push failed');