diff --git a/policyeval/base_worker.go b/policyeval/base_worker.go
index c4eaaec9..ff6f6e0d 100644
--- a/policyeval/base_worker.go
+++ b/policyeval/base_worker.go
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ func (w *BaseWorker) handlePolicy(ctx context.Context, eval *sdk.ScalingEvaluati
 				continue
 			case sdk.ScalingPolicyOnErrorFail:
 				return err
+			case sdk.ScalingPolicyOnErrorScale:
 			default:
 				if eval.Policy.OnCheckError == sdk.ScalingPolicyOnErrorFail {
 					return err
@@ -420,7 +421,11 @@ func (h *checkHandler) start(ctx context.Context, currentStatus *sdk.TargetStatu
 	}
 
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to query source: %v", err)
+		if h.checkEval.Check.OnError != sdk.ScalingPolicyOnErrorScale {
+			h.logger.Error("failed to query source. Continuing with policy because on_error is '%s': %v", sdk.ScalingPolicyOnErrorScale, err)
+		} else {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to query source: %v", err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if h.checkEval.Metrics != nil {
@@ -428,8 +433,12 @@ func (h *checkHandler) start(ctx context.Context, currentStatus *sdk.TargetStatu
 		sort.Sort(h.checkEval.Metrics)
 
 		if len(h.checkEval.Metrics) == 0 {
-			h.logger.Warn("no metrics available")
-			return &sdk.ScalingAction{Direction: sdk.ScaleDirectionNone}, nil
+			if h.checkEval.Check.OnError == sdk.ScalingPolicyOnErrorScale {
+				h.logger.Warn("no metrics available, continuing with policy because on_error is '%s'", sdk.ScalingPolicyOnErrorScale)
+			} else {
+				h.logger.Warn("no metrics available, nothing to do.")
+				return &sdk.ScalingAction{Direction: sdk.ScaleDirectionNone}, nil
+			}
 		}
 
 		if h.logger.IsTrace() {
diff --git a/sdk/policy.go b/sdk/policy.go
index 4dffe184..69b68788 100644
--- a/sdk/policy.go
+++ b/sdk/policy.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ const (
 
 	ScalingPolicyOnErrorFail   = "fail"
 	ScalingPolicyOnErrorIgnore = "ignore"
+	ScalingPolicyOnErrorScale  = "scale"
 )
 
 // ScalingPolicy is the internal representation of a scaling document and
@@ -97,10 +98,10 @@ func (p *ScalingPolicy) Validate() error {
 		}
 
 		switch c.OnError {
-		case "", ScalingPolicyOnErrorFail, ScalingPolicyOnErrorIgnore:
+		case "", ScalingPolicyOnErrorFail, ScalingPolicyOnErrorIgnore, ScalingPolicyOnErrorScale:
 		default:
-			err := fmt.Errorf("invalid value for on_error in check %s: only %s and %s are allowed",
-				c.Name, ScalingPolicyOnErrorFail, ScalingPolicyOnErrorIgnore)
+			err := fmt.Errorf("invalid value for on_error in check %s: only %s, %s, and %s are allowed",
+				c.Name, ScalingPolicyOnErrorFail, ScalingPolicyOnErrorIgnore, ScalingPolicyOnErrorScale)
 			result = multierror.Append(result, err)
 		}
 	}
@@ -136,13 +137,15 @@ type ScalingPolicyCheck struct {
 	Strategy *ScalingPolicyStrategy
 
 	// OnError defines how errors are handled by the Autoscaler when running
-	// this check. Possible values are "ignore" or "fail". If not set the
+	// this check. Possible values are "ignore", "fail", or "scale". If not set the
 	// policy `on_check_error` value will be used.
 	//
 	// If "ignore" the check is not considered when calculating the final
 	// scaling action result.
-	// If "fail" the the entire policy evaluation will stop and no action will
+	// If "fail" the entire policy evaluation will stop and no action will
 	// be taken.
+	// If "scale" the check will be considered to be active. Use this to
+	// "fail-safe" scale-up to towards max when metrics are unavailable
 	OnError string
 }
 
diff --git a/sdk/policy_test.go b/sdk/policy_test.go
index d170b902..da964839 100644
--- a/sdk/policy_test.go
+++ b/sdk/policy_test.go
@@ -87,6 +87,23 @@ func TestScalingPolicy_Validate(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			expectedError: "",
 		},
+		{
+			name: "valid policy using on_error = 'scale'",
+			policy: &ScalingPolicy{
+				Type:         "horizontal",
+				OnCheckError: "ignore",
+				Checks: []*ScalingPolicyCheck{
+					{
+						Name:    "valid",
+						OnError: "scale",
+						Strategy: &ScalingPolicyStrategy{
+							Name: "target-value",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expectedError: "",
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {