diff --git a/pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go b/pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go
index c6902e5b5..3c55e7db8 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
-	"os"
-	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/cli/cli/api"
@@ -16,7 +14,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/pr/shared"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/iostreams"
-	"github.com/google/shlex"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
@@ -93,17 +90,17 @@ func diffRun(opts *DiffOptions) error {
 	}
 	defer diff.Close()
 
+	err = opts.IO.StartPager()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer opts.IO.StopPager()
+
 	if opts.UseColor == "never" {
 		_, err = io.Copy(opts.IO.Out, diff)
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if opts.IO.IsStdoutTTY() {
-		if pager := os.Getenv("PAGER"); pager != "" {
-			return runPager(pager, diff, opts.IO.Out)
-		}
-	}
-
 	diffLines := bufio.NewScanner(diff)
 	for diffLines.Scan() {
 		diffLine := diffLines.Text()
@@ -148,14 +145,3 @@ func isRemovalLine(dl string) bool {
 func validColorFlag(c string) bool {
 	return c == "auto" || c == "always" || c == "never"
 }
-
-var runPager = func(pager string, diff io.Reader, out io.Writer) error {
-	args, err := shlex.Split(pager)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	pagerCmd := exec.Command(args[0], args[1:]...)
-	pagerCmd.Stdin = diff
-	pagerCmd.Stdout = out
-	return pagerCmd.Run()
-}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff_test.go b/pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff_test.go
index dc93970b6..5e362ac4d 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff_test.go
@@ -2,10 +2,8 @@ package diff
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
-	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/cli/cli/context"
@@ -214,13 +212,8 @@ func TestPRDiff_notty(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPRDiff_tty(t *testing.T) {
-	pager := os.Getenv("PAGER")
 	http := &httpmock.Registry{}
-	defer func() {
-		os.Setenv("PAGER", pager)
-		http.Verify(t)
-	}()
-	os.Setenv("PAGER", "")
+	defer http.Verify(t)
 	http.StubResponse(200, bytes.NewBufferString(`
 		{ "data": { "repository": { "pullRequests": { "nodes": [
 			{ "url": "https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/pull/123",
@@ -237,38 +230,6 @@ func TestPRDiff_tty(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Contains(t, output.String(), "\x1b[32m+site: bin/gh\x1b[m")
 }
 
-func TestPRDiff_pager(t *testing.T) {
-	realRunPager := runPager
-	pager := os.Getenv("PAGER")
-	http := &httpmock.Registry{}
-	defer func() {
-		runPager = realRunPager
-		os.Setenv("PAGER", pager)
-		http.Verify(t)
-	}()
-	runPager = func(pager string, diff io.Reader, out io.Writer) error {
-		_, err := io.Copy(out, diff)
-		return err
-	}
-	os.Setenv("PAGER", "fakepager")
-	http.StubResponse(200, bytes.NewBufferString(`
-	{ "data": { "repository": { "pullRequests": { "nodes": [
-		{ "url": "https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/pull/123",
-		  "number": 123,
-		  "id": "foobar123",
-		  "headRefName": "feature",
-			"baseRefName": "master" }
-	] } } } }`))
-	http.StubResponse(200, bytes.NewBufferString(testDiff))
-	output, err := runCommand(http, nil, true, "")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %s", err)
-	}
-	if diff := cmp.Diff(testDiff, output.String()); diff != "" {
-		t.Errorf("command output did not match:\n%s", diff)
-	}
-}
-
 const testDiff = `diff --git a/.github/workflows/releases.yml b/.github/workflows/releases.yml
 index 73974448..b7fc0154 100644
 --- a/.github/workflows/releases.yml
diff --git a/pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go b/pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go
index e9b9c2220..d3f7e3c11 100644
--- a/pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go
+++ b/pkg/iostreams/iostreams.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/google/shlex"
 	"github.com/mattn/go-colorable"
 	"github.com/mattn/go-isatty"
 	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh/terminal"
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ type IOStreams struct {
 	stdoutIsTTY       bool
 	stderrTTYOverride bool
 	stderrIsTTY       bool
+
+	pagerCommand string
+	pagerProcess *os.Process
 }
 
 func (s *IOStreams) ColorEnabled() bool {
@@ -79,6 +83,51 @@ func (s *IOStreams) IsStderrTTY() bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+func (s *IOStreams) StartPager() error {
+	if s.pagerCommand == "" || !s.IsStdoutTTY() {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	pagerArgs, err := shlex.Split(s.pagerCommand)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	pagerEnv := os.Environ()
+	if _, ok := os.LookupEnv("LESS"); !ok {
+		pagerEnv = append(pagerEnv, "LESS=FRX")
+	}
+	if _, ok := os.LookupEnv("LV"); !ok {
+		pagerEnv = append(pagerEnv, "LV=-c")
+	}
+
+	pagerCmd := exec.Command(pagerArgs[0], pagerArgs[1:]...)
+	pagerCmd.Env = pagerEnv
+	pagerCmd.Stdout = s.Out
+	pagerCmd.Stderr = s.ErrOut
+	pagedOut, err := pagerCmd.StdinPipe()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	s.Out = pagedOut
+	err = pagerCmd.Start()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	s.pagerProcess = pagerCmd.Process
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (s *IOStreams) StopPager() {
+	if s.pagerProcess == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	s.Out.(io.ReadCloser).Close()
+	_, _ = s.pagerProcess.Wait()
+	s.pagerProcess = nil
+}
+
 func (s *IOStreams) TerminalWidth() int {
 	defaultWidth := 80
 	if s.stdoutTTYOverride {
@@ -111,6 +160,7 @@ func System() *IOStreams {
 		Out:          colorable.NewColorable(os.Stdout),
 		ErrOut:       colorable.NewColorable(os.Stderr),
 		colorEnabled: os.Getenv("NO_COLOR") == "" && stdoutIsTTY,
+		pagerCommand: os.Getenv("PAGER"),
 	}
 
 	// prevent duplicate isTerminal queries now that we know the answer