diff --git a/dev-infra/pr/merge/task.ts b/dev-infra/pr/merge/task.ts
index 5a177847386..7b9a76ead2b 100644
--- a/dev-infra/pr/merge/task.ts
+++ b/dev-infra/pr/merge/task.ts
@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@ import {isPullRequest, loadAndValidatePullRequest,} from './pull-request';
 import {GithubApiMergeStrategy} from './strategies/api-merge';
 import {AutosquashMergeStrategy} from './strategies/autosquash-merge';
 
-/** Github OAuth scopes required for the merge task. */
-const REQUIRED_SCOPES = ['repo'];
-
 /** Describes the status of a pull request merge. */
 export const enum MergeStatus {
   UNKNOWN_GIT_ERROR,
@@ -56,8 +53,19 @@ export class PullRequestMergeTask {
    * @param force Whether non-critical pull request failures should be ignored.
    */
   async merge(prNumber: number, force = false): Promise<MergeResult> {
-    // Assert the authenticated GitClient has access on the required scopes.
-    const hasOauthScopes = await this.git.hasOauthScopes(...REQUIRED_SCOPES);
+    // Check whether the given Github token has sufficient permissions for writing
+    // to the configured repository. If the repository is not private, only the
+    // reduced `public_repo` OAuth scope is sufficient for performing merges.
+    const hasOauthScopes = await this.git.hasOauthScopes((scopes, missing) => {
+      if (!scopes.includes('repo')) {
+        if (this.config.remote.private) {
+          missing.push('repo');
+        } else if (!scopes.includes('public_repo')) {
+          missing.push('public_repo');
+        }
+      }
+    });
+
     if (hasOauthScopes !== true) {
       return {
         status: MergeStatus.GITHUB_ERROR,
diff --git a/dev-infra/utils/config.ts b/dev-infra/utils/config.ts
index bcf6a82d60f..bd08ee68e44 100644
--- a/dev-infra/utils/config.ts
+++ b/dev-infra/utils/config.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ export interface GitClientConfig {
   name: string;
   /** If SSH protocol should be used for git interactions. */
   useSsh?: boolean;
+  /** Whether the specified repository is private. */
+  private?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/dev-infra/utils/git/index.ts b/dev-infra/utils/git/index.ts
index 3a15b5a0982..88c626dc20a 100644
--- a/dev-infra/utils/git/index.ts
+++ b/dev-infra/utils/git/index.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ type RateLimitResponseWithOAuthScopeHeader = Octokit.Response<Octokit.RateLimitG
   headers: {'x-oauth-scopes': string};
 };
 
+/** Describes a function that can be used to test for given Github OAuth scopes. */
+export type OAuthScopeTestFunction = (scopes: string[], missing: string[]) => void;
+
 /** Error for failed Git commands. */
 export class GitCommandError extends Error {
   constructor(client: GitClient, public args: string[]) {
@@ -155,14 +158,11 @@ export class GitClient {
    * Assert the GitClient instance is using a token with permissions for the all of the
    * provided OAuth scopes.
    */
-  async hasOauthScopes(...requestedScopes: string[]): Promise<true|{error: string}> {
-    const missingScopes: string[] = [];
+  async hasOauthScopes(testFn: OAuthScopeTestFunction): Promise<true|{error: string}> {
     const scopes = await this.getAuthScopesForToken();
-    requestedScopes.forEach(scope => {
-      if (!scopes.includes(scope)) {
-        missingScopes.push(scope);
-      }
-    });
+    const missingScopes: string[] = [];
+    // Test Github OAuth scopes and collect missing ones.
+    testFn(scopes, missingScopes);
     // If no missing scopes are found, return true to indicate all OAuth Scopes are available.
     if (missingScopes.length === 0) {
       return true;