diff --git a/pkg/cmd/repo/delete/delete.go b/pkg/cmd/repo/delete/delete.go
index 3036f7697..16604cb65 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/repo/delete/delete.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/repo/delete/delete.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 
 type DeleteOptions struct {
 	HttpClient func() (*http.Client, error)
+	BaseRepo   func() (ghrepo.Interface, error)
 	IO         *iostreams.IOStreams
 	RepoArg    string
 	Confirmed  bool
@@ -30,15 +31,17 @@ func NewCmdDelete(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*DeleteOptions) error) *cobra.Co
 	}
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   "delete <repository>",
+		Use:   "delete [<repository>]",
 		Short: "Delete a repository",
 		Long: `Delete a GitHub repository.
 
 Deletion requires authorization with the "delete_repo" scope. 
 To authorize, run "gh auth refresh -s delete_repo"`,
-		Args: cmdutil.ExactArgs(1, "cannot delete: repository argument required"),
+		Args: cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			opts.RepoArg = args[0]
+			if len(args) > 0 {
+				opts.RepoArg = args[0]
+			}
 			if !opts.IO.CanPrompt() && !opts.Confirmed {
 				return cmdutil.FlagErrorf("could not prompt: confirmation with prompt or --confirm flag required")
 			}
@@ -60,8 +63,15 @@ func deleteRun(opts *DeleteOptions) error {
 	}
 	apiClient := api.NewClientFromHTTP(httpClient)
 
-	repoSelector := opts.RepoArg
 	var toDelete ghrepo.Interface
+	repoSelector := opts.RepoArg
+	if repoSelector == "" {
+		currRepo, err := opts.BaseRepo()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		repoSelector = ghrepo.FullName(currRepo)
+	}
 
 	if !strings.Contains(repoSelector, "/") {
 		currentUser, err := api.CurrentLoginName(apiClient, ghinstance.Default())