diff --git a/packages/istanbul-reports/lib/html/annotator.js b/packages/istanbul-reports/lib/html/annotator.js
index be8a4534..84d8fc39 100644
--- a/packages/istanbul-reports/lib/html/annotator.js
+++ b/packages/istanbul-reports/lib/html/annotator.js
@@ -164,6 +164,22 @@ function annotateBranches(fileCoverage, structuredText) {
                     gt;
                 closeSpan = lt + '/span' + gt;
 
+                // If the branch is an implicit else from an if statement,
+                // then the coverage report won't show a statistic.
+                // Therefore, the previous branch will be used to report that
+                // there is no coverage on that implicit branch.
+                if (
+                    count === 0 &&
+                    startLine === undefined &&
+                    branchMeta[branchName].type === 'if'
+                ) {
+                    const prevMeta = metaArray[i - 1];
+                    startCol = prevMeta.start.column;
+                    endCol = prevMeta.end.column + 1;
+                    startLine = prevMeta.start.line;
+                    endLine = prevMeta.end.line;
+                }
+
                 if (count === 0 && structuredText[startLine]) {
                     //skip branches taken
                     if (endLine !== startLine) {
diff --git a/packages/istanbul-reports/test/fixtures/github-649.json b/packages/istanbul-reports/test/fixtures/github-649.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..078b36fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/istanbul-reports/test/fixtures/github-649.json
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+{
+  "path": "/Users/benjamincoe/bcoe/istanbul-lib-instrument/src/index.js",
+  "statementMap": {
+    "0": {
+      "start": {
+        "line": 1,
+        "column": 0
+      },
+      "end": {
+        "line": 9,
+        "column": 2
+      }
+    },
+    "1": {
+      "start": {
+        "line": 2,
+        "column": 10
+      },
+      "end": {
+        "line": 2,
+        "column": 11
+      }
+    },
+    "2": {
+      "start": {
+        "line": 4,
+        "column": 4
+      },
+      "end": {
+        "line": 6,
+        "column": 5
+      }
+    },
+    "3": {
+      "start": {
+        "line": 5,
+        "column": 6
+      },
+      "end": {
+        "line": 5,
+        "column": 12
+      }
+    },
+    "4": {
+      "start": {
+        "line": 8,
+        "column": 4
+      },
+      "end": {
+        "line": 8,
+        "column": 13
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "fnMap": {
+    "0": {
+      "name": "(anonymous_0)",
+      "decl": {
+        "start": {
+          "line": 1,
+          "column": 16
+        },
+        "end": {
+          "line": 1,
+          "column": 17
+        }
+      },
+      "loc": {
+        "start": {
+          "line": 1,
+          "column": 28
+        },
+        "end": {
+          "line": 9,
+          "column": 1
+        }
+      },
+      "line": 1
+    }
+  },
+  "branchMap": {
+    "0": {
+      "loc": {
+        "start": {
+          "line": 4,
+          "column": 4
+        },
+        "end": {
+          "line": 6,
+          "column": 5
+        }
+      },
+      "type": "if",
+      "locations": [{
+          "start": {
+            "line": 4,
+            "column": 4
+          },
+          "end": {
+            "line": 6,
+            "column": 5
+          }
+        }, {
+          "start": {
+          },
+          "end": {
+          }
+        }
+      ],
+      "line": 4
+    }
+  },
+  "s": {
+    "0": 1,
+    "1": 1,
+    "2": 1,
+    "3": 1,
+    "4": 1
+  },
+  "f": {
+    "0": 1
+  },
+  "b": {
+    "0": [1, 0]
+  },
+  "hash": "edc1f904dd2d4c7214941451a07aabfc0aee6ec0"
+}
diff --git a/packages/istanbul-reports/test/html/annotator.js b/packages/istanbul-reports/test/html/annotator.js
index 78cc5331..b55b072b 100644
--- a/packages/istanbul-reports/test/html/annotator.js
+++ b/packages/istanbul-reports/test/html/annotator.js
@@ -81,5 +81,25 @@ describe('annotator', () => {
                 '<span class="fstat-no" title="function not covered" >  function test () {};</span>'
             );
         });
+
+        // see: https://github.com/istanbuljs/istanbuljs/issues/649
+        it('handles implicit else branches', () => {
+            const annotated = annotator(getFixture('github-649'), {
+                getSource() {
+                    return `exports.testy = function () { 
+                        let a = 0;
+                      
+                        if (!a) {
+                          a = 3;
+                        }
+                    
+                        return a;
+                    };`;
+                }
+            });
+            annotated.annotatedCode[3].should.equal(
+                '    <span class="missing-if-branch" title="else path not taken" >E</span>                    if (!a) {'
+            );
+        });
     });
 });