diff --git a/ci/deploy.sh b/ci/deploy.sh
index 5458374fb..1bcb8262f 100755
--- a/ci/deploy.sh
+++ b/ci/deploy.sh
@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@ git config --global commit.gpgsign true
 
 git clone git@github.com:nix-community/nur-combined
 
-result/bin/nur combine nur-combined
+result/bin/nur combine \
+  --irc-notify nur-bot@chat.freenode.net:6697/nixos-nur \
+  nur-combined
 
 if [[ -z "$(git diff --exit-code)" ]]; then
   echo "No changes to the output on this push; exiting."
diff --git a/nur/__init__.py b/nur/__init__.py
index ff03df55d..fab7ca290 100644
--- a/nur/__init__.py
+++ b/nur/__init__.py
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ def parse_arguments(argv: List[str]) -> argparse.Namespace:
     subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(description="subcommands")
 
     combine = subparsers.add_parser("combine")
+    combine.add_argument(
+        "--irc-notify",
+        type=str,
+        help="Example nur-bot@chat.freenode.net:6697/nixos-nur",
+    )
     combine.add_argument("directory")
     combine.set_defaults(func=combine_command)
 
diff --git a/nur/combine.py b/nur/combine.py
index a0e43d4d3..f9a299ead 100644
--- a/nur/combine.py
+++ b/nur/combine.py
@@ -182,4 +182,16 @@ def combine_command(args: Namespace) -> None:
 
     with chdir(combined_path):
         setup_combined()
-    update_combined(combined_path)
+    notifications = update_combined(combined_path)
+
+    if args.irc_notify:
+        try:
+            from .irc_notify import send
+        except ImportError as e:
+            print(f"failed to import irc_notify, skipping notification: {e}")
+            return
+
+        try:
+            send(args.irc_notify, notifications)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"failed to send irc notifications: {e}")
diff --git a/nur/irc_notify.py b/nur/irc_notify.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f826bbfb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nur/irc_notify.py
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+import ssl
+from typing import List, Optional
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
+
+from irc.client import Connection, Event, Reactor, ServerConnectionError, is_channel
+from irc.connection import Factory
+
+
+class Exit(SystemExit):
+    pass
+
+
+def send(url: str, notifications: List[str]) -> None:
+    parsed = urlparse(f"http://{url}")
+    username = parsed.username or "nur-bot"
+    server = parsed.hostname or "chat.freenode.de"
+    if parsed.path != "/" or parsed.path == "":
+        channel = f"#{parsed.path[1:]}"
+    else:
+        channel = "#nixos-nur"
+    port = parsed.port or 6697
+    password = parsed.password
+    if len(notifications) == 0:
+        return
+    _send(
+        notifications=notifications,
+        nickname=username,
+        password=password,
+        server=server,
+        channel=channel,
+        port=port,
+    )
+
+
+class _send:
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        notifications: List[str],
+        server: str,
+        nickname: str,
+        port: int,
+        channel: str,
+        password: Optional[str] = None,
+        use_ssl: bool = True,
+    ) -> None:
+        self.notifications = notifications
+        self.channel = channel
+
+        ssl_factory = None
+        if use_ssl:
+            ssl_factory = Factory(wrapper=ssl.wrap_socket)
+        reactor = Reactor()
+        try:
+            s = reactor.server()
+            c = s.connect(
+                server, port, nickname, password=password, connect_factory=ssl_factory
+            )
+        except ServerConnectionError as e:
+            print(f"error sending irc notification {e}")
+            return
+
+        c.add_global_handler("welcome", self.on_connect)
+        c.add_global_handler("join", self.on_join)
+        c.add_global_handler("disconnect", self.on_disconnect)
+
+        try:
+            reactor.process_forever()
+        except Exit:
+            pass
+
+    def on_connect(self, connection: Connection, event: Event) -> None:
+        if is_channel(self.channel):
+            connection.join(self.channel)
+            return
+        self.main_loop(connection)
+
+    def on_join(self, connection: Connection, event: Event) -> None:
+        self.main_loop(connection)
+
+    def on_disconnect(self, connection: Connection, event: Event) -> None:
+        raise Exit()
+
+    def main_loop(self, connection: Connection) -> None:
+        for notification in self.notifications:
+            connection.privmsg(self.channel, notification)
+        connection.quit("Bye")
diff --git a/release.nix b/release.nix
index e5840565b..0fcf5fee9 100644
--- a/release.nix
+++ b/release.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonApplication {
   name = "nur";
   src = ./.;
 
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ python3Packages.irc ];
+
   makeWrapperArgs = [
     "--prefix" "PATH" ":" "${stdenv.lib.makeBinPath [ nix-prefetch-git git nix ]}"
     "--set" "LOCALE_ARCHIVE" "${glibcLocales}/lib/locale/locale-archive"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4332d5454..431d30867 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ setup(
     license="MIT",
     packages=find_packages(),
     entry_points={"console_scripts": ["nur = nur:main"]},
+    install_requires=["irc"],
     extras_require={"dev": ["mypy", "flake8>=3.5,<3.6", "black"]},
     classifiers=[
         "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",