diff --git a/osu.Desktop/Updater/SquirrelUpdateManager.cs b/osu.Desktop/Updater/SquirrelUpdateManager.cs
index 05c8e835ac..71f9fafe57 100644
--- a/osu.Desktop/Updater/SquirrelUpdateManager.cs
+++ b/osu.Desktop/Updater/SquirrelUpdateManager.cs
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ namespace osu.Desktop.Updater
 
         private static readonly Logger logger = Logger.GetLogger("updater");
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Whether an update has been downloaded but not yet applied.
+        /// </summary>
+        private bool updatePending;
+
         [BackgroundDependencyLoader]
         private void load(NotificationOverlay notification)
         {
@@ -37,9 +42,9 @@ namespace osu.Desktop.Updater
             Splat.Locator.CurrentMutable.Register(() => new SquirrelLogger(), typeof(Splat.ILogger));
         }
 
-        protected override async Task PerformUpdateCheck() => await checkForUpdateAsync();
+        protected override async Task<bool> PerformUpdateCheck() => await checkForUpdateAsync();
 
-        private async Task checkForUpdateAsync(bool useDeltaPatching = true, UpdateProgressNotification notification = null)
+        private async Task<bool> checkForUpdateAsync(bool useDeltaPatching = true, UpdateProgressNotification notification = null)
         {
             // should we schedule a retry on completion of this check?
             bool scheduleRecheck = true;
@@ -49,9 +54,19 @@ namespace osu.Desktop.Updater
                 updateManager ??= await UpdateManager.GitHubUpdateManager(@"https://github.com/ppy/osu", @"osulazer", null, null, true);
 
                 var info = await updateManager.CheckForUpdate(!useDeltaPatching);
+
                 if (info.ReleasesToApply.Count == 0)
+                {
+                    if (updatePending)
+                    {
+                        // the user may have dismissed the completion notice, so show it again.
+                        notificationOverlay.Post(new UpdateCompleteNotification(this));
+                        return true;
+                    }
+
                     // no updates available. bail and retry later.
-                    return;
+                    return false;
+                }
 
                 if (notification == null)
                 {
@@ -72,6 +87,7 @@ namespace osu.Desktop.Updater
                     await updateManager.ApplyReleases(info, p => notification.Progress = p / 100f);
 
                     notification.State = ProgressNotificationState.Completed;
+                    updatePending = true;
                 }
                 catch (Exception e)
                 {
@@ -103,6 +119,8 @@ namespace osu.Desktop.Updater
                     Scheduler.AddDelayed(async () => await checkForUpdateAsync(), 60000 * 30);
                 }
             }
+
+            return true;
         }
 
         protected override void Dispose(bool isDisposing)
@@ -111,10 +129,27 @@ namespace osu.Desktop.Updater
             updateManager?.Dispose();
         }
 
+        private class UpdateCompleteNotification : ProgressCompletionNotification
+        {
+            [Resolved]
+            private OsuGame game { get; set; }
+
+            public UpdateCompleteNotification(SquirrelUpdateManager updateManager)
+            {
+                Text = @"Update ready to install. Click to restart!";
+
+                Activated = () =>
+                {
+                    updateManager.PrepareUpdateAsync()
+                                 .ContinueWith(_ => updateManager.Schedule(() => game.GracefullyExit()));
+                    return true;
+                };
+            }
+        }
+
         private class UpdateProgressNotification : ProgressNotification
         {
             private readonly SquirrelUpdateManager updateManager;
-            private OsuGame game;
 
             public UpdateProgressNotification(SquirrelUpdateManager updateManager)
             {
@@ -123,23 +158,12 @@ namespace osu.Desktop.Updater
 
             protected override Notification CreateCompletionNotification()
             {
-                return new ProgressCompletionNotification
-                {
-                    Text = @"Update ready to install. Click to restart!",
-                    Activated = () =>
-                    {
-                        updateManager.PrepareUpdateAsync()
-                                     .ContinueWith(_ => updateManager.Schedule(() => game.GracefullyExit()));
-                        return true;
-                    }
-                };
+                return new UpdateCompleteNotification(updateManager);
             }
 
             [BackgroundDependencyLoader]
-            private void load(OsuColour colours, OsuGame game)
+            private void load(OsuColour colours)
             {
-                this.game = game;
-
                 IconContent.AddRange(new Drawable[]
                 {
                     new Box
diff --git a/osu.Game/Overlays/Settings/Sections/General/UpdateSettings.cs b/osu.Game/Overlays/Settings/Sections/General/UpdateSettings.cs
index a59a6b00b9..c213313559 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Overlays/Settings/Sections/General/UpdateSettings.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Overlays/Settings/Sections/General/UpdateSettings.cs
@@ -4,9 +4,11 @@
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using osu.Framework;
 using osu.Framework.Allocation;
+using osu.Framework.Graphics.Sprites;
 using osu.Framework.Platform;
 using osu.Framework.Screens;
 using osu.Game.Configuration;
+using osu.Game.Overlays.Notifications;
 using osu.Game.Overlays.Settings.Sections.Maintenance;
 using osu.Game.Updater;
 
@@ -21,6 +23,9 @@ namespace osu.Game.Overlays.Settings.Sections.General
 
         private SettingsButton checkForUpdatesButton;
 
+        [Resolved(CanBeNull = true)]
+        private NotificationOverlay notifications { get; set; }
+
         [BackgroundDependencyLoader(true)]
         private void load(Storage storage, OsuConfigManager config, OsuGame game)
         {
@@ -38,7 +43,19 @@ namespace osu.Game.Overlays.Settings.Sections.General
                     Action = () =>
                     {
                         checkForUpdatesButton.Enabled.Value = false;
-                        Task.Run(updateManager.CheckForUpdateAsync).ContinueWith(t => Schedule(() => checkForUpdatesButton.Enabled.Value = true));
+                        Task.Run(updateManager.CheckForUpdateAsync).ContinueWith(t => Schedule(() =>
+                        {
+                            if (!t.Result)
+                            {
+                                notifications?.Post(new SimpleNotification
+                                {
+                                    Text = $"You are running the latest release ({game.Version})",
+                                    Icon = FontAwesome.Solid.CheckCircle,
+                                });
+                            }
+
+                            checkForUpdatesButton.Enabled.Value = true;
+                        }));
                     }
                 });
             }
diff --git a/osu.Game/Updater/SimpleUpdateManager.cs b/osu.Game/Updater/SimpleUpdateManager.cs
index 48c6722bd9..b5fcb56c06 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Updater/SimpleUpdateManager.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Updater/SimpleUpdateManager.cs
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Updater
             version = game.Version;
         }
 
-        protected override async Task PerformUpdateCheck()
+        protected override async Task<bool> PerformUpdateCheck()
         {
             try
             {
@@ -53,12 +53,17 @@ namespace osu.Game.Updater
                             return true;
                         }
                     });
+
+                    return true;
                 }
             }
             catch
             {
                 // we shouldn't crash on a web failure. or any failure for the matter.
+                return true;
             }
+
+            return false;
         }
 
         private string getBestUrl(GitHubRelease release)
diff --git a/osu.Game/Updater/UpdateManager.cs b/osu.Game/Updater/UpdateManager.cs
index 61775a26b7..f772c6d282 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Updater/UpdateManager.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Updater/UpdateManager.cs
@@ -57,25 +57,31 @@ namespace osu.Game.Updater
 
         private readonly object updateTaskLock = new object();
 
-        private Task updateCheckTask;
+        private Task<bool> updateCheckTask;
 
-        public async Task CheckForUpdateAsync()
+        public async Task<bool> CheckForUpdateAsync()
         {
             if (!CanCheckForUpdate)
-                return;
+                return false;
 
-            Task waitTask;
+            Task<bool> waitTask;
 
             lock (updateTaskLock)
                 waitTask = (updateCheckTask ??= PerformUpdateCheck());
 
-            await waitTask;
+            bool hasUpdates = await waitTask;
 
             lock (updateTaskLock)
                 updateCheckTask = null;
+
+            return hasUpdates;
         }
 
-        protected virtual Task PerformUpdateCheck() => Task.CompletedTask;
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Performs an asynchronous check for application updates.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>Whether any update is waiting. May return true if an error occured (there is potentially an update available).</returns>
+        protected virtual Task<bool> PerformUpdateCheck() => Task.FromResult(false);
 
         private class UpdateCompleteNotification : SimpleNotification
         {