diff --git a/pkg/cmd/issue/transfer/transfer.go b/pkg/cmd/issue/transfer/transfer.go
index 140d02b91..a6dfb9b23 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/issue/transfer/transfer.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/issue/transfer/transfer.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ type TransferOptions struct {
 	IO         *iostreams.IOStreams
 	BaseRepo   func() (ghrepo.Interface, error)
 
-	IssueSelector    string
+	IssueNumber      int
 	DestRepoSelector string
 }
 
@@ -36,8 +36,23 @@ func NewCmdTransfer(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*TransferOptions) error) *cobr
 		Short: "Transfer issue to another repository",
 		Args:  cmdutil.ExactArgs(2, "issue and destination repository are required"),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			opts.BaseRepo = f.BaseRepo
-			opts.IssueSelector = 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
+
 			opts.DestRepoSelector = args[1]
 
 			if runF != nil {
@@ -57,7 +72,12 @@ func transferRun(opts *TransferOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	issue, baseRepo, err := shared.IssueFromArgWithFields(httpClient, opts.BaseRepo, opts.IssueSelector, []string{"id", "number"})
+	baseRepo, err := opts.BaseRepo()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	issue, err := shared.FindIssueOrPR(httpClient, baseRepo, opts.IssueNumber, []string{"id", "number"})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/issue/transfer/transfer_test.go b/pkg/cmd/issue/transfer/transfer_test.go
index eed9c5d85..2b12db944 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/issue/transfer/transfer_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/issue/transfer/transfer_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/test"
 	"github.com/google/shlex"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 func runCommand(rt http.RoundTripper, cli string) (*test.CmdOut, error) {
@@ -57,18 +58,49 @@ func runCommand(rt http.RoundTripper, cli string) (*test.CmdOut, error) {
 
 func TestNewCmdTransfer(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
-		name    string
-		cli     string
-		wants   TransferOptions
-		wantErr string
+		name         string
+		cli          string
+		wants        TransferOptions
+		wantBaseRepo ghrepo.Interface
+		wantErr      bool
 	}{
 		{
-			name: "issue name",
-			cli:  "3252 OWNER/REPO",
+			name:    "no argument",
+			cli:     "",
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "issue number argument",
+			cli:  "--repo cli/repo 23 OWNER/REPO",
 			wants: TransferOptions{
-				IssueSelector:    "3252",
+				IssueNumber:      23,
 				DestRepoSelector: "OWNER/REPO",
 			},
+			wantBaseRepo: ghrepo.New("cli", "repo"),
+		},
+		{
+			name: "argument is hash prefixed number",
+			// Escaping is required here to avoid what I think is shellex treating it as a comment.
+			cli: "--repo cli/repo \\#23 OWNER/REPO",
+			wants: TransferOptions{
+				IssueNumber:      23,
+				DestRepoSelector: "OWNER/REPO",
+			},
+			wantBaseRepo: ghrepo.New("cli", "repo"),
+		},
+		{
+			name: "argument is a URL",
+			cli:  "https://github.com/cli/cli/issues/23 OWNER/REPO",
+			wants: TransferOptions{
+				IssueNumber:      23,
+				DestRepoSelector: "OWNER/REPO",
+			},
+			wantBaseRepo: ghrepo.New("cli", "cli"),
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "argument cannot be parsed to an issue",
+			cli:     "unparseable OWNER/REPO",
+			wantErr: true,
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -84,15 +116,29 @@ func TestNewCmdTransfer(t *testing.T) {
 				gotOpts = opts
 				return nil
 			})
+			cmdutil.EnableRepoOverride(cmd, f)
+
 			cmd.SetArgs(argv)
 			cmd.SetIn(&bytes.Buffer{})
 			cmd.SetOut(&bytes.Buffer{})
 			cmd.SetErr(&bytes.Buffer{})
 
 			_, cErr := cmd.ExecuteC()
-			assert.NoError(t, cErr)
-			assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.IssueSelector, gotOpts.IssueSelector)
+			if tt.wantErr {
+				require.Error(t, cErr)
+				return
+			}
+
+			require.NoError(t, cErr)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.IssueNumber, gotOpts.IssueNumber)
 			assert.Equal(t, tt.wants.DestRepoSelector, gotOpts.DestRepoSelector)
+			actualBaseRepo, err := gotOpts.BaseRepo()
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.True(
+				t,
+				ghrepo.IsSame(tt.wantBaseRepo, actualBaseRepo),
+				"expected base repo %+v, got %+v", tt.wantBaseRepo, actualBaseRepo,
+			)
 		})
 	}
 }