diff --git a/mercurial/cmdutil.py b/mercurial/cmdutil.py
--- a/mercurial/cmdutil.py
+++ b/mercurial/cmdutil.py
@@ -883,6 +883,10 @@
 
         else:
             msg = _(b'No unresolved merge conflicts.')
+            if not self.unfinishedop:
+                msg += _(
+                    b"\nUse 'hg resolve --clear' to clear the merge state."
+                )
 
         fm.plain(b'%s\n' % _commentlines(msg), label=self._label)
 
diff --git a/tests/test-update-branches.t b/tests/test-update-branches.t
--- a/tests/test-update-branches.t
+++ b/tests/test-update-branches.t
@@ -635,6 +635,7 @@
   $ hg status
   M foo
   # No unresolved merge conflicts.
+  # Use 'hg resolve --clear' to clear the merge state.
   
   $ hg status -Tjson
   [