diff --git a/pkg/cmd/issue/delete/delete.go b/pkg/cmd/issue/delete/delete.go
index fb41f288e..269ef7081 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/issue/delete/delete.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/issue/delete/delete.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ type DeleteOptions struct {
 	BaseRepo   func() (ghrepo.Interface, error)
 	Prompter   iprompter
 
-	SelectorArg string
+	IssueNumber int
 	Confirmed   bool
 }
 
@@ -42,13 +42,23 @@ func NewCmdDelete(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*DeleteOptions) error) *cobra.Co
 		Short: "Delete issue",
 		Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			// support `-R, --repo` override
-			opts.BaseRepo = f.BaseRepo
-
-			if len(args) > 0 {
-				opts.SelectorArg = args[0]
+			issueNumber, baseRepo, err := shared.ParseIssueFromArg(args[0])
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
 			}
 
+			// If the args provided the base repo then use that directly.
+			if baseRepo, present := baseRepo.Value(); present {
+				opts.BaseRepo = func() (ghrepo.Interface, error) {
+					return baseRepo, nil
+				}
+			} else {
+				// support `-R, --repo` override
+				opts.BaseRepo = f.BaseRepo
+			}
+
+			opts.IssueNumber = issueNumber
+
 			if runF != nil {
 				return runF(opts)
 			}
@@ -71,7 +81,12 @@ func deleteRun(opts *DeleteOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	issue, baseRepo, err := shared.IssueFromArgWithFields(httpClient, opts.BaseRepo, opts.SelectorArg, []string{"id", "number", "title"})
+	baseRepo, err := opts.BaseRepo()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	issue, err := shared.FindIssueOrPR(httpClient, baseRepo, opts.IssueNumber, []string{"id", "number", "title"})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/issue/delete/delete_test.go b/pkg/cmd/issue/delete/delete_test.go
index bd83c826f..64522b1d3 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/issue/delete/delete_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/issue/delete/delete_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/internal/gh"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/internal/ghrepo"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/internal/prompter"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/cmd/issue/argparsetest"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/httpmock"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/iostreams"
@@ -20,6 +21,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
+func TestNewCmdDelete(t *testing.T) {
+	argparsetest.TestArgParsing(t, NewCmdDelete)
+}
+
 func runCommand(rt http.RoundTripper, pm *prompter.MockPrompter, isTTY bool, cli string) (*test.CmdOut, error) {
 	ios, _, stdout, stderr := iostreams.Test()
 	ios.SetStdoutTTY(isTTY)