diff --git a/pkg/cmd/pr/checkout/checkout.go b/pkg/cmd/pr/checkout/checkout.go
index bc697ae70..5d45856cd 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/pr/checkout/checkout.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/pr/checkout/checkout.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type CheckoutOptions struct {
 	RecurseSubmodules bool
 	Force             bool
 	Detach            bool
+	BranchName        string
 }
 
 func NewCmdCheckout(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*CheckoutOptions) error) *cobra.Command {
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ func NewCmdCheckout(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*CheckoutOptions) error) *cobr
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&opts.RecurseSubmodules, "recurse-submodules", "", false, "Update all submodules after checkout")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&opts.Force, "force", "f", false, "Reset the existing local branch to the latest state of the pull request")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&opts.Detach, "detach", "", false, "Checkout PR with a detached HEAD")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.BranchName, "branch", "b", "", "Local branch name to use (default: the name of the head branch)")
 
 	return cmd
 }
@@ -139,7 +141,6 @@ func checkoutRun(opts *CheckoutOptions) error {
 
 func cmdsForExistingRemote(remote *context.Remote, pr *api.PullRequest, opts *CheckoutOptions) [][]string {
 	var cmds [][]string
-
 	remoteBranch := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", remote.Name, pr.HeadRefName)
 
 	refSpec := fmt.Sprintf("+refs/heads/%s", pr.HeadRefName)
@@ -149,11 +150,16 @@ func cmdsForExistingRemote(remote *context.Remote, pr *api.PullRequest, opts *Ch
 
 	cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "fetch", remote.Name, refSpec})
 
+	localBranch := pr.HeadRefName
+	if opts.BranchName != "" {
+		localBranch = opts.BranchName
+	}
+
 	switch {
 	case opts.Detach:
 		cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "checkout", "--detach", "FETCH_HEAD"})
-	case localBranchExists(pr.HeadRefName):
-		cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "checkout", pr.HeadRefName})
+	case localBranchExists(localBranch):
+		cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "checkout", localBranch})
 		if opts.Force {
 			cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "reset", "--hard", fmt.Sprintf("refs/remotes/%s", remoteBranch)})
 		} else {
@@ -161,9 +167,12 @@ func cmdsForExistingRemote(remote *context.Remote, pr *api.PullRequest, opts *Ch
 			cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "merge", "--ff-only", fmt.Sprintf("refs/remotes/%s", remoteBranch)})
 		}
 	default:
-		cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "checkout", "-b", pr.HeadRefName, "--no-track", remoteBranch})
-		cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "config", fmt.Sprintf("branch.%s.remote", pr.HeadRefName), remote.Name})
-		cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "config", fmt.Sprintf("branch.%s.merge", pr.HeadRefName), "refs/heads/" + pr.HeadRefName})
+		cmds = append(
+			cmds,
+			[]string{"git", "checkout", "-b", localBranch, "--no-track", remoteBranch},
+			[]string{"git", "config", fmt.Sprintf("branch.%s.remote", localBranch), remote.Name},
+			[]string{"git", "config", fmt.Sprintf("branch.%s.merge", pr.HeadRefName), "refs/heads/" + pr.HeadRefName},
+		)
 	}
 
 	return cmds
@@ -204,7 +213,12 @@ func cmdsForMissingRemote(pr *api.PullRequest, baseURLOrName, repoHost, defaultB
 			// TODO: check if non-fast-forward and suggest to use `--force`
 			cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "fetch", baseURLOrName, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", ref, newBranchName)})
 		}
-		cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "checkout", newBranchName})
+
+		if opts.BranchName != "" {
+			cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "checkout", "-b", opts.BranchName, "--track", newBranchName})
+		} else {
+			cmds = append(cmds, []string{"git", "checkout", newBranchName})
+		}
 	}
 
 	remote := baseURLOrName
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/pr/checkout/checkout_test.go b/pkg/cmd/pr/checkout/checkout_test.go
index 9f4acea25..73e7141b6 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/pr/checkout/checkout_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/pr/checkout/checkout_test.go
@@ -100,6 +100,66 @@ func Test_checkoutRun(t *testing.T) {
 				cs.Register(`git config branch\.feature\.merge refs/pull/123/head`, 0, "")
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "with local branch rename",
+			opts: &CheckoutOptions{
+				SelectorArg: "123",
+				BranchName:  "foobar",
+				Finder: func() shared.PRFinder {
+					baseRepo, pr := stubPR("OWNER/REPO:master", "hubot/REPO:feature")
+					pr.MaintainerCanModify = true
+					pr.HeadRepository = nil
+					finder := shared.NewMockFinder("123", pr, baseRepo)
+					return finder
+				}(),
+				Config: func() (config.Config, error) {
+					return config.NewBlankConfig(), nil
+				},
+				Branch: func() (string, error) {
+					return "main", nil
+				},
+			},
+			remotes: map[string]string{
+				"origin": "OWNER/REPO",
+			},
+			runStubs: func(cs *run.CommandStubber) {
+				cs.Register(`git fetch origin refs/pull/123/head:feature`, 0, "")
+				cs.Register(`git config branch\.feature\.merge`, 1, "")
+				cs.Register(`git checkout -b foobar --track feature`, 0, "")
+				cs.Register(`git config branch\.feature\.remote origin`, 0, "")
+				cs.Register(`git config branch\.feature\.merge refs/pull/123/head`, 0, "")
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "with local branch name, no existing git remote",
+			opts: &CheckoutOptions{
+				SelectorArg: "123",
+				BranchName:  "foobar",
+				Finder: func() shared.PRFinder {
+					baseRepo, pr := stubPR("OWNER/REPO:master", "hubot/REPO:feature")
+					pr.MaintainerCanModify = true
+					pr.HeadRepository = nil
+					finder := shared.NewMockFinder("123", pr, baseRepo)
+					return finder
+				}(),
+				Config: func() (config.Config, error) {
+					return config.NewBlankConfig(), nil
+				},
+				Branch: func() (string, error) {
+					return "main", nil
+				},
+			},
+			remotes: map[string]string{
+				"origin": "OWNER/REPO",
+			},
+			runStubs: func(cs *run.CommandStubber) {
+				cs.Register(`git fetch origin refs/pull/123/head:feature`, 0, "")
+				cs.Register(`git config branch\.feature\.merge`, 1, "")
+				cs.Register(`git checkout -b foobar --track feature`, 0, "")
+				cs.Register(`git config branch\.feature\.remote origin`, 0, "")
+				cs.Register(`git config branch\.feature\.merge refs/pull/123/head`, 0, "")
+			},
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {