diff --git a/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go b/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
index aacdfc5e5..bd23bc68a 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func NewHelpTopic(topic string) *cobra.Command {
 		DEBUG: set to any value to enable verbose output to standard error. Include values "api"
 		or "oauth" to print detailed information about HTTP requests or authentication flow.
 
-		PAGER: a terminal paging program to send standard output to, e.g. "less".
+		GH_PAGER, PAGER (in order of precedence): a terminal paging program to send standard output to, e.g. "less".
 
 		GLAMOUR_STYLE: the style to use for rendering Markdown. See
 		https://github.com/charmbracelet/glamour#styles
diff --git a/pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go b/pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go
index 43fe8ca42..d13d7b542 100644
--- a/pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go
+++ b/pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go
@@ -248,6 +248,13 @@ func System() *IOStreams {
 	stdoutIsTTY := isTerminal(os.Stdout)
 	stderrIsTTY := isTerminal(os.Stderr)
 
+	var pagerCommand string
+	if ghPager, ghPagerExists := os.LookupEnv("GH_PAGER"); ghPagerExists {
+		pagerCommand = ghPager
+	} else {
+		pagerCommand = os.Getenv("PAGER")
+	}
+
 	io := &IOStreams{
 		In:           os.Stdin,
 		originalOut:  os.Stdout,
@@ -255,7 +262,7 @@ func System() *IOStreams {
 		ErrOut:       colorable.NewColorable(os.Stderr),
 		colorEnabled: EnvColorForced() || (!EnvColorDisabled() && stdoutIsTTY),
 		is256enabled: Is256ColorSupported(),
-		pagerCommand: os.Getenv("PAGER"),
+		pagerCommand: pagerCommand,
 	}
 
 	if stdoutIsTTY && stderrIsTTY {