diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 4c810ab21f2d20461de34e4d1e956aa5a3d1b5fd..ca33eeef8d90fb96c4d250418008ef74cd61bb69 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ v 8.8.0 (unreleased)
   - All Grape API helpers are now instrumented
   - Improve Issue formatting for the Slack Service (Jeroen van Baarsen)
   - Fixed advice on invalid permissions on upload path !2948 (Ludovic Perrine)
+  - Allows MR authors to have the source branch removed when merging the MR. !2801 (Jeroen Jacobs)
 
 v 8.7.6
   - Fix links on wiki pages for relative url setups. !4131 (Artem Sidorenko)
diff --git a/app/controllers/projects/merge_requests_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects/merge_requests_controller.rb
index c5757a24624754f18187a6502d38ac3443bdca3a..f137c12d21559b24ceeb78b78861d953e1a230f2 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects/merge_requests_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects/merge_requests_controller.rb
@@ -334,7 +334,8 @@ class Projects::MergeRequestsController < Projects::ApplicationController
     params.require(:merge_request).permit(
       :title, :assignee_id, :source_project_id, :source_branch,
       :target_project_id, :target_branch, :milestone_id,
-      :state_event, :description, :task_num, label_ids: []
+      :state_event, :description, :task_num, :force_remove_source_branch,
+      label_ids: []
     )
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/merge_request.rb b/app/models/merge_request.rb
index 45ddcf6812a9dd9f261336c8d5201bb9323089df..722c258244c4e921f5137caceecb79a6f015e90d 100644
--- a/app/models/merge_request.rb
+++ b/app/models/merge_request.rb
@@ -286,6 +286,18 @@ class MergeRequest < ActiveRecord::Base
       last_commit == source_project.commit(source_branch)
   end
 
+  def should_remove_source_branch?
+    merge_params['should_remove_source_branch'].present?
+  end
+
+  def force_remove_source_branch?
+    merge_params['force_remove_source_branch'].present?
+  end
+
+  def remove_source_branch?
+    should_remove_source_branch? || force_remove_source_branch?
+  end
+
   def mr_and_commit_notes
     # Fetch comments only from last 100 commits
     commits_for_notes_limit = 100
@@ -426,7 +438,10 @@ class MergeRequest < ActiveRecord::Base
 
     self.merge_when_build_succeeds = false
     self.merge_user = nil
-    self.merge_params = nil
+    if merge_params
+      merge_params.delete('should_remove_source_branch')
+      merge_params.delete('commit_message')
+    end
 
     self.save
   end
diff --git a/app/services/merge_requests/create_service.rb b/app/services/merge_requests/create_service.rb
index 33609d01f20fed72ea35257db2b3306e9cb0edc4..96a25330af100447755e284febaa6ffdf5028ad4 100644
--- a/app/services/merge_requests/create_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/merge_requests/create_service.rb
@@ -8,11 +8,14 @@ module MergeRequests
       @project = Project.find(params[:target_project_id]) if params[:target_project_id]
 
       filter_params
-      label_params = params[:label_ids]
-      merge_request = MergeRequest.new(params.except(:label_ids))
+      label_params = params.delete(:label_ids)
+      force_remove_source_branch = params.delete(:force_remove_source_branch)
+
+      merge_request = MergeRequest.new(params)
       merge_request.source_project = source_project
       merge_request.target_project ||= source_project
       merge_request.author = current_user
+      merge_request.merge_params['force_remove_source_branch'] = force_remove_source_branch
 
       if merge_request.save
         merge_request.update_attributes(label_ids: label_params)
diff --git a/app/services/merge_requests/merge_service.rb b/app/services/merge_requests/merge_service.rb
index 9a58383b398a8580fcecf934433d5b9bc802af3b..9aaf5a5e561804560d5e962afc62905a57b21b6a 100644
--- a/app/services/merge_requests/merge_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/merge_requests/merge_service.rb
@@ -45,10 +45,14 @@ module MergeRequests
     def after_merge
       MergeRequests::PostMergeService.new(project, current_user).execute(merge_request)
 
-      if params[:should_remove_source_branch].present?
-        DeleteBranchService.new(@merge_request.source_project, current_user).
+      if params[:should_remove_source_branch].present? || @merge_request.force_remove_source_branch?
+        DeleteBranchService.new(@merge_request.source_project, branch_deletion_user).
           execute(merge_request.source_branch)
       end
     end
+
+    def branch_deletion_user
+      @merge_request.force_remove_source_branch? ? @merge_request.author : current_user
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/services/merge_requests/update_service.rb b/app/services/merge_requests/update_service.rb
index 477c64e7377d91c49efb861705c956171c9a1f7f..026a37997d44376f66bc02c14a3b4643f894dbf9 100644
--- a/app/services/merge_requests/update_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/merge_requests/update_service.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ module MergeRequests
       params.except!(:target_project_id)
       params.except!(:source_branch)
 
+      merge_request.merge_params['force_remove_source_branch'] = params.delete(:force_remove_source_branch)
+
       update(merge_request)
     end
 
diff --git a/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_accept.html.haml b/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_accept.html.haml
index 807833741afc77b970d86fcecfc4a8485401d321..cfdf4edac3752fbbd3b9122b098c4a6eac95b776 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_accept.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_accept.html.haml
@@ -25,7 +25,10 @@
         - else
           = f.button class: "btn btn-create btn-grouped js-merge-button accept_merge_request #{status_class}" do
             Accept Merge Request
-      - if @merge_request.can_remove_source_branch?(current_user)
+      - if @merge_request.force_remove_source_branch?
+        .accept-control
+          The source branch will be removed.
+      - elsif @merge_request.can_remove_source_branch?(current_user)
         .accept-control.checkbox
           = label_tag :should_remove_source_branch, class: "remove_source_checkbox" do
             = check_box_tag :should_remove_source_branch
diff --git a/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_merge_when_build_succeeds.html.haml b/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_merge_when_build_succeeds.html.haml
index 2168294c683936502a6f4ade730572e77d7e172b..b83ddcab3a4a8f7c54e69f4ceb0c1bbc2d0a9fe4 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_merge_when_build_succeeds.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_merge_when_build_succeeds.html.haml
@@ -2,17 +2,16 @@
   Set by #{link_to_member(@project, @merge_request.merge_user, avatar: true)}
   to be merged automatically when the build succeeds.
 %div
-  - should_remove_source_branch = @merge_request.merge_params["should_remove_source_branch"].present?
   %p
     = succeed '.' do
       The changes will be merged into
       %span.label-branch= @merge_request.target_branch
-    - if should_remove_source_branch
+    - if @merge_request.remove_source_branch?
       The source branch will be removed.
     - else
       The source branch will not be removed.
 
-  - remove_source_branch_button = @merge_request.can_remove_source_branch?(current_user) && !should_remove_source_branch && @merge_request.merge_user == current_user
+  - remove_source_branch_button = !@merge_request.remove_source_branch? && @merge_request.can_remove_source_branch?(current_user) && @merge_request.merge_user == current_user
   - user_can_cancel_automatic_merge = @merge_request.can_cancel_merge_when_build_succeeds?(current_user)
   - if remove_source_branch_button || user_can_cancel_automatic_merge
     .clearfix.prepend-top-10
diff --git a/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_not_allowed.html.haml b/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_not_allowed.html.haml
index a8145558ca85117722c73ed2823ed97b657de95d..57ce1959021fa6aacf695e34243be46d4ee50525 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_not_allowed.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/projects/merge_requests/widget/open/_not_allowed.html.haml
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-%h4 
+%h4
   Ready to be merged automatically
 %p
   Ask someone with write access to this repository to merge this request.
+  - if @merge_request.force_remove_source_branch?
+    The source branch will be removed.
diff --git a/app/views/shared/issuable/_form.html.haml b/app/views/shared/issuable/_form.html.haml
index 5c52cc6d1daed5ec4d882ff1daeb98bccc2e9f78..1181edec3f99f430beced5f8e78a16411b383dbf 100644
--- a/app/views/shared/issuable/_form.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/shared/issuable/_form.html.haml
@@ -114,6 +114,13 @@
       - if @merge_request.new_record?
         &nbsp;
         = link_to 'Change branches', mr_change_branches_path(@merge_request)
+  - if @merge_request.can_remove_source_branch?(current_user)
+    .form-group
+      .col-sm-10.col-sm-offset-2
+        .checkbox
+          = label_tag 'merge_request[force_remove_source_branch]' do
+            = check_box_tag 'merge_request[force_remove_source_branch]', '1', @merge_request.force_remove_source_branch?
+            Remove source branch when merge request is accepted.
 
 - is_footer = !(issuable.is_a?(MergeRequest) && issuable.new_record?)
 .row-content-block{class: (is_footer ? "footer-block" : "middle-block")}
diff --git a/spec/models/merge_request_spec.rb b/spec/models/merge_request_spec.rb
index 9eef08c6d00a7aa0dcf58f4aaf6e54106fa8d57c..e269ff26a047f40f9d5f60c648edaf8a3cb773b5 100644
--- a/spec/models/merge_request_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/merge_request_spec.rb
@@ -260,13 +260,18 @@ describe MergeRequest, models: true do
   end
 
   describe "#reset_merge_when_build_succeeds" do
-    let(:merge_if_green) { create :merge_request, merge_when_build_succeeds: true, merge_user: create(:user) }
+    let(:merge_if_green) do
+      create :merge_request, merge_when_build_succeeds: true, merge_user: create(:user),
+                             merge_params: { "should_remove_source_branch" => "1", "commit_message" => "msg" }
+    end
 
     it "sets the item to false" do
       merge_if_green.reset_merge_when_build_succeeds
       merge_if_green.reload
 
       expect(merge_if_green.merge_when_build_succeeds).to be_falsey
+      expect(merge_if_green.merge_params["should_remove_source_branch"]).to be_nil
+      expect(merge_if_green.merge_params["commit_message"]).to be_nil
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/services/merge_requests/create_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/merge_requests/create_service_spec.rb
index 120f4d6a669a77fa8943c9033a5104f02e48a179..e433f49872de010a96c080ee28268ee3bf14ec8d 100644
--- a/spec/services/merge_requests/create_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/merge_requests/create_service_spec.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ describe MergeRequests::CreateService, services: true do
           title: 'Awesome merge_request',
           description: 'please fix',
           source_branch: 'feature',
-          target_branch: 'master'
+          target_branch: 'master',
+          force_remove_source_branch: '1'
         }
       end
 
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ describe MergeRequests::CreateService, services: true do
       it { expect(@merge_request).to be_valid }
       it { expect(@merge_request.title).to eq('Awesome merge_request') }
       it { expect(@merge_request.assignee).to be_nil }
+      it { expect(@merge_request.merge_params['force_remove_source_branch']).to eq('1') }
 
       it 'should execute hooks with default action' do
         expect(service).to have_received(:execute_hooks).with(@merge_request)
diff --git a/spec/services/merge_requests/merge_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/merge_requests/merge_service_spec.rb
index ceb3f97280e30ade3079058d90274470d962838f..1b0396eb6865c97fca3bfeb4b104d6792c1ceb7a 100644
--- a/spec/services/merge_requests/merge_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/merge_requests/merge_service_spec.rb
@@ -38,6 +38,21 @@ describe MergeRequests::MergeService, services: true do
       end
     end
 
+    context 'remove source branch by author' do
+      let(:service) do
+        merge_request.merge_params['force_remove_source_branch'] = '1'
+        merge_request.save!
+        MergeRequests::MergeService.new(project, user, commit_message: 'Awesome message')
+      end
+
+      it 'removes the source branch' do
+        expect(DeleteBranchService).to receive(:new).
+          with(merge_request.source_project, merge_request.author).
+          and_call_original
+        service.execute(merge_request)
+      end
+    end
+
     context "error handling" do
       let(:service) { MergeRequests::MergeService.new(project, user, commit_message: 'Awesome message') }
 
diff --git a/spec/services/merge_requests/update_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/merge_requests/update_service_spec.rb
index 213e8c2eb3a17139a45ec7bb48d7682998b281db..cc7dc216a76d29cc03b25d263b40531190ff0c5c 100644
--- a/spec/services/merge_requests/update_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/merge_requests/update_service_spec.rb
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ describe MergeRequests::UpdateService, services: true do
           assignee_id: user2.id,
           state_event: 'close',
           label_ids: [label.id],
-          target_branch: 'target'
+          target_branch: 'target',
+          force_remove_source_branch: '1'
         }
       end
 
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ describe MergeRequests::UpdateService, services: true do
       it { expect(@merge_request.labels.count).to eq(1) }
       it { expect(@merge_request.labels.first.title).to eq(label.name) }
       it { expect(@merge_request.target_branch).to eq('target') }
+      it { expect(@merge_request.merge_params['force_remove_source_branch']).to eq('1') }
 
       it 'should execute hooks with update action' do
         expect(service).to have_received(:execute_hooks).