diff --git a/pkg/cmd/factory/default.go b/pkg/cmd/factory/default.go
index 68df7a316..6286c999d 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/factory/default.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/factory/default.go
@@ -293,8 +293,13 @@ func ioStreams(f *cmdutil.Factory) *iostreams.IOStreams {
 		io.SetPager(pager.Value)
 	}
 
-	if _, ghColorLabels := os.LookupEnv("GH_COLOR_LABELS"); ghColorLabels {
-		io.SetColorLabels(true) // TODO: should this be a truthy value?
+	if ghColorLabels, ghColorLabelsExists := os.LookupEnv("GH_COLOR_LABELS"); ghColorLabelsExists {
+		switch ghColorLabels {
+		case "", "0", "false", "no":
+			io.SetColorLabels(false)
+		default:
+			io.SetColorLabels(true)
+		}
 	} else if prompt := cfg.ColorLabels(""); prompt.Value == "enabled" {
 		io.SetColorLabels(true)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/factory/default_test.go b/pkg/cmd/factory/default_test.go
index b1730d6e6..407c2fcdb 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/factory/default_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/factory/default_test.go
@@ -449,10 +449,40 @@ func Test_ioStreams_colorLabels(t *testing.T) {
 			colorLabelsEnabled: true,
 		},
 		{
-			name:               "colorLabels enabled via GH_COLOR_LABELS env var",
+			name:               "colorLabels enabled via `1` in GH_COLOR_LABELS env var",
 			env:                map[string]string{"GH_COLOR_LABELS": "1"},
 			colorLabelsEnabled: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name:               "colorLabels enabled via `true` in GH_COLOR_LABELS env var",
+			env:                map[string]string{"GH_COLOR_LABELS": "true"},
+			colorLabelsEnabled: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "colorLabels enabled via `yes` in GH_COLOR_LABELS env var",
+			env:                map[string]string{"GH_COLOR_LABELS": "yes"},
+			colorLabelsEnabled: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "colorLabels disable via empty string in GH_COLOR_LABELS env var",
+			env:                map[string]string{"GH_COLOR_LABELS": ""},
+			colorLabelsEnabled: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "colorLabels disabled via `0` in GH_COLOR_LABELS env var",
+			env:                map[string]string{"GH_COLOR_LABELS": "0"},
+			colorLabelsEnabled: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "colorLabels disabled via `false` in GH_COLOR_LABELS env var",
+			env:                map[string]string{"GH_COLOR_LABELS": "false"},
+			colorLabelsEnabled: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "colorLabels disabled via `no` in GH_COLOR_LABELS env var",
+			env:                map[string]string{"GH_COLOR_LABELS": "no"},
+			colorLabelsEnabled: false,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {