diff --git a/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go b/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
index e10e45431..e801f0c13 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cli/cli/git"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/internal/config"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/internal/ghrepo"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/internal/run"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/iostreams"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/prompt"
@@ -234,8 +235,23 @@ func forkRun(opts *ForkOptions) error {
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+
 			if _, err := remotes.FindByName(remoteName); err == nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("a remote called '%s' already exists. You can rerun this command with --remote-name to specify a different remote name.", remoteName)
+				if connectedToTerminal {
+					return fmt.Errorf("a remote called '%s' already exists. You can rerun this command with --remote-name to specify a different remote name.", remoteName)
+				} else {
+					// TODO next major version we should break this behavior and force users to opt into
+					// remote renaming in a scripting context via --remote-name
+					renameTarget := "upstream"
+					renameCmd, err := git.GitCommand("remote", "rename", remoteName, renameTarget)
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+					err = run.PrepareCmd(renameCmd).Run()
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+				}
 			}
 
 			forkedRepoCloneURL := ghrepo.FormatRemoteURL(forkedRepo, protocol)
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork_test.go b/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork_test.go
index 255e820cd..767c5244e 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork_test.go
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func TestRepoFork_existing_remote_error(t *testing.T) {
 	defer reg.StubWithFixturePath(200, "./forkResult.json")()
 	httpClient := &http.Client{Transport: reg}
 
-	_, err := runCommand(httpClient, nil, false, "--remote")
+	_, err := runCommand(httpClient, nil, true, "--remote")
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("expected error running command `repo fork`")
 	}
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func TestRepoFork_existing_remote_error(t *testing.T) {
 	reg.Verify(t)
 }
 
-func TestRepoFork_no_existing_remote(t *testing.T) {
+func TestRepoFork_no_conflicting_remote(t *testing.T) {
 	remotes := []*context.Remote{
 		{
 			Remote: &git.Remote{
@@ -153,9 +153,10 @@ func TestRepoFork_in_parent_nontty(t *testing.T) {
 	cs, restore := run.Stub()
 	defer restore(t)
 
-	cs.Register(`git remote add -f fork https://github\.com/someone/REPO\.git`, 0, "")
+	cs.Register("git remote rename origin upstream", 0, "")
+	cs.Register(`git remote add -f origin https://github\.com/someone/REPO\.git`, 0, "")
 
-	output, err := runCommand(httpClient, nil, false, "--remote --remote-name=fork")
+	output, err := runCommand(httpClient, nil, false, "--remote")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("error running command `repo fork`: %v", err)
 	}