diff --git a/plugin/notify/notification.go b/plugin/notify/notification.go
index d0927344..0c11863d 100644
--- a/plugin/notify/notification.go
+++ b/plugin/notify/notification.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ type Notification struct {
 	Irc     *IRC         `yaml:"irc,omitempty"`
 	Slack   *Slack       `yaml:"slack,omitempty"`
 
-	GitHub github.GitHub `yaml:"github_status"`
+	GitHub  *github.GitHub `yaml:"github_status,omitempty"`
 }
 
 func (n *Notification) Send(context *model.Request) error {