diff --git a/cmd/gh/main.go b/cmd/gh/main.go
index a8f1ed141..9a2501f49 100644
--- a/cmd/gh/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gh/main.go
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func mainRun() exitCode {
 		updateMessageChan <- rel
 	}()
 
-	hasDebug := os.Getenv("DEBUG") != ""
+	hasDebug, _ := utils.IsDebugEnabled()
 
 	cmdFactory := factory.New(buildVersion)
 	stderr := cmdFactory.IOStreams.ErrOut
@@ -327,8 +327,10 @@ func checkForUpdate(currentVersion string) (*update.ReleaseInfo, error) {
 // does not depend on user configuration
 func basicClient(currentVersion string) (*api.Client, error) {
 	var opts []api.ClientOption
-	if verbose := os.Getenv("DEBUG"); verbose != "" {
-		opts = append(opts, apiVerboseLog())
+	if isVerbose, debugValue := utils.IsDebugEnabled(); isVerbose {
+		colorize := utils.IsTerminal(os.Stderr)
+		logTraffic := strings.Contains(debugValue, "api")
+		opts = append(opts, api.VerboseLog(colorable.NewColorable(os.Stderr), logTraffic, colorize))
 	}
 	opts = append(opts, api.AddHeader("User-Agent", fmt.Sprintf("GitHub CLI %s", currentVersion)))
 
@@ -344,12 +346,6 @@ func basicClient(currentVersion string) (*api.Client, error) {
 	return api.NewClient(opts...), nil
 }
 
-func apiVerboseLog() api.ClientOption {
-	logTraffic := strings.Contains(os.Getenv("DEBUG"), "api")
-	colorize := utils.IsTerminal(os.Stderr)
-	return api.VerboseLog(colorable.NewColorable(os.Stderr), logTraffic, colorize)
-}
-
 func isRecentRelease(publishedAt time.Time) bool {
 	return !publishedAt.IsZero() && time.Since(publishedAt) < time.Hour*24
 }
diff --git a/internal/authflow/flow.go b/internal/authflow/flow.go
index fbf0a9e34..c809e455a 100644
--- a/internal/authflow/flow.go
+++ b/internal/authflow/flow.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/internal/ghinstance"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/iostreams"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/utils"
 	"github.com/cli/oauth"
 )
 
@@ -53,8 +54,9 @@ func authFlow(oauthHost string, IO *iostreams.IOStreams, notice string, addition
 	cs := IO.ColorScheme()
 
 	httpClient := http.DefaultClient
-	if envDebug := os.Getenv("DEBUG"); envDebug != "" {
-		logTraffic := strings.Contains(envDebug, "api") || strings.Contains(envDebug, "oauth")
+	debugEnabled, debugValue := utils.IsDebugEnabled()
+	if debugEnabled {
+		logTraffic := strings.Contains(debugValue, "api")
 		httpClient.Transport = api.VerboseLog(IO.ErrOut, logTraffic, IO.ColorEnabled())(httpClient.Transport)
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/run/run.go b/internal/run/run.go
index 58fb189e3..d482e04cc 100644
--- a/internal/run/run.go
+++ b/internal/run/run.go
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/utils"
 )
 
 // Runnable is typically an exec.Cmd or its stub in tests
@@ -28,7 +30,7 @@ type cmdWithStderr struct {
 }
 
 func (c cmdWithStderr) Output() ([]byte, error) {
-	if os.Getenv("DEBUG") != "" {
+	if isVerbose, _ := utils.IsDebugEnabled(); isVerbose {
 		_ = printArgs(os.Stderr, c.Cmd.Args)
 	}
 	if c.Cmd.Stderr != nil {
@@ -44,7 +46,7 @@ func (c cmdWithStderr) Output() ([]byte, error) {
 }
 
 func (c cmdWithStderr) Run() error {
-	if os.Getenv("DEBUG") != "" {
+	if isVerbose, _ := utils.IsDebugEnabled(); isVerbose {
 		_ = printArgs(os.Stderr, c.Cmd.Args)
 	}
 	if c.Cmd.Stderr != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/factory/http.go b/pkg/cmd/factory/http.go
index 7037b1558..f5c30582f 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/factory/http.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/factory/http.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package factory
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
-	"os"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -12,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/internal/ghinstance"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/internal/httpunix"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/iostreams"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/utils"
 )
 
 var timezoneNames = map[int]string{
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ func NewHTTPClient(io *iostreams.IOStreams, cfg configGetter, appVersion string,
 		}))
 	}
 
-	if verbose := os.Getenv("DEBUG"); verbose != "" {
-		logTraffic := strings.Contains(verbose, "api")
+	if isVerbose, debugValue := utils.IsDebugEnabled(); isVerbose {
+		logTraffic := strings.Contains(debugValue, "api")
 		opts = append(opts, api.VerboseLog(io.ErrOut, logTraffic, io.IsStderrTTY()))
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/factory/http_test.go b/pkg/cmd/factory/http_test.go
index 0cb5ac15c..0686b855d 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/factory/http_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/factory/http_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ func TestNewHTTPClient(t *testing.T) {
 		name       string
 		args       args
 		envDebug   string
+		setGhDebug bool
+		envGhDebug string
 		host       string
 		sso        string
 		wantHeader map[string]string
@@ -82,8 +84,39 @@ func TestNewHTTPClient(t *testing.T) {
 				appVersion: "v1.2.3",
 				setAccept:  true,
 			},
-			host:     "github.com",
-			envDebug: "api",
+			host:       "github.com",
+			envDebug:   "api",
+			setGhDebug: false,
+			wantHeader: map[string]string{
+				"authorization": "token MYTOKEN",
+				"user-agent":    "GitHub CLI v1.2.3",
+				"accept":        "application/vnd.github.merge-info-preview+json, application/vnd.github.nebula-preview",
+			},
+			wantStderr: heredoc.Doc(`
+				* Request at <time>
+				* Request to http://<host>:<port>
+				> GET / HTTP/1.1
+				> Host: github.com
+				> Accept: application/vnd.github.merge-info-preview+json, application/vnd.github.nebula-preview
+				> Authorization: token ████████████████████
+				> User-Agent: GitHub CLI v1.2.3
+
+				< HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
+				< Date: <time>
+
+				* Request took <duration>
+			`),
+		},
+		{
+			name: "github.com in verbose mode",
+			args: args{
+				config:     tinyConfig{"github.com:oauth_token": "MYTOKEN"},
+				appVersion: "v1.2.3",
+				setAccept:  true,
+			},
+			host:       "github.com",
+			envGhDebug: "api",
+			setGhDebug: true,
 			wantHeader: map[string]string{
 				"authorization": "token MYTOKEN",
 				"user-agent":    "GitHub CLI v1.2.3",
@@ -145,9 +178,16 @@ func TestNewHTTPClient(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			oldDebug := os.Getenv("DEBUG")
+			oldGhDebug := os.Getenv("GH_DEBUG")
 			os.Setenv("DEBUG", tt.envDebug)
+			if tt.setGhDebug {
+				os.Setenv("GH_DEBUG", tt.envGhDebug)
+			} else {
+				os.Unsetenv("GH_DEBUG")
+			}
 			t.Cleanup(func() {
 				os.Setenv("DEBUG", oldDebug)
+				os.Setenv("GH_DEBUG", oldGhDebug)
 			})
 
 			io, _, _, stderr := iostreams.Test()
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go b/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
index 489df7f64..757e972ed 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/root/help_topic.go
@@ -47,8 +47,11 @@ var HelpTopics = map[string]map[string]string{
 
 			GH_BROWSER, BROWSER (in order of precedence): the web browser to use for opening links.
 
-			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.
+			GH_DEBUG: set to a truthy value to enable verbose output on standard error. Set to "api"
+			to additionally log details of HTTP traffic.
+
+			DEBUG (deprecated): set to "1", "true", or "yes" to enable verbose output on standard
+			error.
 
 			GH_PAGER, PAGER (in order of precedence): a terminal paging program to send standard output
 			to, e.g. "less".
diff --git a/utils/utils.go b/utils/utils.go
index cd423bf65..e73b2af26 100644
--- a/utils/utils.go
+++ b/utils/utils.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package utils
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -83,3 +84,24 @@ func DisplayURL(urlStr string) string {
 func ValidURL(urlStr string) bool {
 	return len(urlStr) < 8192
 }
+
+func IsDebugEnabled() (bool, string) {
+	debugValue, isDebugSet := os.LookupEnv("GH_DEBUG")
+	legacyDebugValue := os.Getenv("DEBUG")
+
+	if !isDebugSet {
+		switch legacyDebugValue {
+		case "true", "1", "yes", "api":
+			return true, legacyDebugValue
+		default:
+			return false, legacyDebugValue
+		}
+	}
+
+	switch debugValue {
+	case "false", "0", "no", "":
+		return false, debugValue
+	default:
+		return true, debugValue
+	}
+}