diff --git a/pr_review_queue.py b/pr_review_queue.py
index 0c903d0..e38da41 100755
--- a/pr_review_queue.py
+++ b/pr_review_queue.py
@@ -52,20 +52,21 @@ def get_check_runs(github_api, repo, head):
     """
     check_runs = github_api.checks.list_for_ref(repo=repo,ref=head, per_page=100)
     runs = check_runs["check_runs"]
+    total_count = check_runs["total_count"]
     successful_runs = 0
 
     for run in runs:
         if run['status'] == "completed" and run['conclusion'] == "success":
             successful_runs += 1
 
-    if successful_runs == len(runs):
-        status = f"success ({successful_runs}/{len(runs)})"
+    if successful_runs == total_count:
+        status = "success"
         state = "🟢"
-    elif successful_runs < len(runs):
-        status = f"failure ({successful_runs}/{len(runs)})"
+    elif successful_runs < total_count:
+        status = "failure"
         state = "🔴"
     else:
-        print(f"Warning: something is terribly wrong: successful runs ({successful_runs}) should never be more than total runs ({len(runs)}).")
+        print(f"Warning: something is terribly wrong: successful runs ({successful_runs}) should never be more than total runs ({total_count}).")
         sys.exit(1)
 
     return status, state
@@ -76,22 +77,37 @@ def get_commit_status(github_api, repo, pull_request_details):
     Check whether the HEAD commit has passed the CI tests
     """
     head = pull_request_details["head"]
+    combined_status = "failure" # failure by default
 
+    # Check GitHub run status
+    check_run_status, state = get_check_runs(github_api, repo, head["sha"])
+    # Exit early if there are failed check runs
+    if check_run_status == "failure":
+        return combined_status, state
+
+    # Check external CI status
     status = github_api.repos.get_combined_status_for_ref(repo=repo,ref=head["sha"])
-    if status.state == "success":
+
+    if (status.state == "success" and
+        check_run_status == "success"):
         state = "🟢"
+        combined_status = "success"
     elif status.state == "failure":
         state = "🔴"
+    # For simplicity, we consider "pending" as "failure" unless there are check runs
     elif status.state == "pending":
         state = "🟠"
-        # Check if the state is not really 'pending' but if there is none
+        # Check if the state is not really 'pending' but if there is actually none
         single_status = github_api.repos.list_commit_statuses_for_ref(repo=repo,ref=head["sha"])
         if single_status == []:
-            status.state, state = get_check_runs(github_api, repo, head["sha"])
+            # The combined_status should still be a success if all check runs have passed
+            if check_run_status == "success":
+                state = "🟢"
+                combined_status = "success"
     else:
         state = status.state
 
-    return status.state, state
+    return combined_status, state
 
 
 def get_archived_repos(github_api, org):