diff --git a/documentation/IssueFeatures.md b/documentation/IssueFeatures.md
index 72abd5f90e..de7db2dff0 100644
--- a/documentation/IssueFeatures.md
+++ b/documentation/IssueFeatures.md
@@ -111,3 +111,6 @@ Some of the settings (ex. `githubIssues.workingIssueFormatScm` and `githubIssues
 - `${owner}`: The owner of the current repository.
 - `${sanitizedIssueTitle}`: The title of the current issue with characters that git forbids removed.
 - `${sanitizedLowercaseIssueTitle}`: The lowercase title of the current issue with characters that git forbids removed.
+- `${issueType}`: The name of the issue type (e.g. `Feature`, `Hotfix`), if the issue has an issue type set. If the issue does not have an issue type, the variable is left as-is.
+- `${sanitizedIssueType}`: The issue type name with characters that git forbids removed.
+- `${sanitizedLowercaseIssueType}`: The lowercase issue type name with characters that git forbids removed.
diff --git a/package.nls.json b/package.nls.json
index bd16502abe..080e04dc5e 100644
--- a/package.nls.json
+++ b/package.nls.json
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@
 	"githubIssues.ignoreUserCompletionTrigger.description": "Languages that the '@' character should not be used to trigger user completion suggestions.",
 	"githubIssues.ignoreUserCompletionTrigger.items": "Language that user completions should not trigger on '@'.",
 	"githubIssues.issueBranchTitle.markdownDescription": {
-		"message": "Advanced settings for the name of the branch that is created when you start working on an issue. \n- `${user}` will be replaced with the currently logged in username \n- `${issueNumber}` will be replaced with the current issue number \n- `${sanitizedIssueTitle}` will be replaced with the issue title, with all spaces and unsupported characters (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-check-ref-format) removed. For lowercase, use `${sanitizedLowercaseIssueTitle}` ",
+		"message": "Advanced settings for the name of the branch that is created when you start working on an issue. \n- `${user}` will be replaced with the currently logged in username \n- `${issueNumber}` will be replaced with the current issue number \n- `${issueType}` will be replaced with the issue type name (e.g. `Feature`, `Hotfix`). For branch-safe variants, use `${sanitizedIssueType}` or `${sanitizedLowercaseIssueType}` \n- `${sanitizedIssueTitle}` will be replaced with the issue title, with all spaces and unsupported characters (https://git-scm.com/docs/git-check-ref-format) removed. For lowercase, use `${sanitizedLowercaseIssueTitle}` ",
 		"comment": [
 			"{Locked='${...}'}",
 			"Do not translate what's inside of the '${..}'. It is an internal syntax for the extension"
diff --git a/src/github/graphql.ts b/src/github/graphql.ts
index ea05342343..0d00a5fd6b 100644
--- a/src/github/graphql.ts
+++ b/src/github/graphql.ts
@@ -733,6 +733,9 @@ export interface Issue {
 		totalCount: number;
 	}
 	reactionGroups: ReactionGroup[];
+	issueType?: {
+		name: string;
+	} | null;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/github/interface.ts b/src/github/interface.ts
index 4bf23999c5..c10a2c5870 100644
--- a/src/github/interface.ts
+++ b/src/github/interface.ts
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ export interface Issue {
 	commentCount: number;
 	reactionCount: number;
 	reactions: Reaction[];
+	issueType?: string;
 }
 
 export interface PullRequest extends Issue {
diff --git a/src/github/queries.gql b/src/github/queries.gql
index b4fe0a69fa..bf47921324 100644
--- a/src/github/queries.gql
+++ b/src/github/queries.gql
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ fragment IssueBase on Issue {
 		}
 		url
 	}
+	issueType {
+		name
+	}
 }
 
 fragment IssueFragment on Issue {
diff --git a/src/github/queriesExtra.gql b/src/github/queriesExtra.gql
index ccb1c9f107..dd39ff8b11 100644
--- a/src/github/queriesExtra.gql
+++ b/src/github/queriesExtra.gql
@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ fragment IssueBase on Issue {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	issueType {
+		name
+	}
 }
 
 fragment IssueFragment on Issue {
diff --git a/src/github/utils.ts b/src/github/utils.ts
index 62035f7119..f108f25f08 100644
--- a/src/github/utils.ts
+++ b/src/github/utils.ts
@@ -1036,7 +1036,8 @@ export async function parseGraphQLIssue(issue: GraphQL.Issue, githubRepository:
 		comments: issue.comments.nodes?.map(comment => parseIssueComment(comment, githubRepository)),
 		reactionCount: issue.reactions.totalCount,
 		reactions: parseGraphQLReaction(issue.reactionGroups),
-		commentCount: issue.comments.totalCount
+		commentCount: issue.comments.totalCount,
+		issueType: issue.issueType?.name
 	};
 }
 
@@ -1833,6 +1834,15 @@ export function variableSubstitution(
 			case 'sanitizedLowercaseIssueTitle':
 				result = issueModel ? sanitizeIssueTitle(issueModel.title).toLowerCase() : match;
 				break;
+			case 'issueType':
+				result = issueModel?.item.issueType ? issueModel.item.issueType : match;
+				break;
+			case 'sanitizedIssueType':
+				result = issueModel?.item.issueType ? sanitizeIssueTitle(issueModel.item.issueType) : match;
+				break;
+			case 'sanitizedLowercaseIssueType':
+				result = issueModel?.item.issueType ? sanitizeIssueTitle(issueModel.item.issueType).toLowerCase() : match;
+				break;
 			case 'today':
 				result = computeSinceValue(extra);
 				break;
diff --git a/src/test/github/utils.test.ts b/src/test/github/utils.test.ts
index 94683fcf85..12db79f4cb 100644
--- a/src/test/github/utils.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/github/utils.test.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
 import { default as assert } from 'assert';
-import { getPRFetchQuery, sanitizeIssueTitle } from '../../github/utils';
+import { getPRFetchQuery, sanitizeIssueTitle, variableSubstitution } from '../../github/utils';
+import { IssueModel } from '../../github/issueModel';
 
 describe('utils', () => {
 
@@ -41,4 +42,38 @@ describe('utils', () => {
 			});
 		});
 	});
+
+	describe('variableSubstitution', () => {
+		function makeIssueModel(overrides: { title?: string; number?: number; issueType?: string } = {}): IssueModel {
+			const number = overrides.number ?? 42;
+			const title = overrides.title ?? 'Some Issue';
+			return {
+				number,
+				title,
+				item: {
+					issueType: overrides.issueType,
+				},
+			} as unknown as IssueModel;
+		}
+
+		it('replaces ${issueType} with the issue type name', () => {
+			const result = variableSubstitution('${issueType}-${issueNumber}', makeIssueModel({ issueType: 'Feature', number: 7 }));
+			assert.strictEqual(result, 'Feature-7');
+		});
+
+		it('replaces ${sanitizedIssueType} with a branch-safe issue type', () => {
+			const result = variableSubstitution('${sanitizedIssueType}-${issueNumber}', makeIssueModel({ issueType: 'Production Bug Fix', number: 7 }));
+			assert.strictEqual(result, 'Production-Bug-Fix-7');
+		});
+
+		it('replaces ${sanitizedLowercaseIssueType} with a lowercase branch-safe issue type', () => {
+			const result = variableSubstitution('${sanitizedLowercaseIssueType}-${issueNumber}', makeIssueModel({ issueType: 'Production Bug Fix', number: 7 }));
+			assert.strictEqual(result, 'production-bug-fix-7');
+		});
+
+		it('leaves ${issueType} unsubstituted when the issue has no issue type', () => {
+			const result = variableSubstitution('${issueType}-${issueNumber}', makeIssueModel({ issueType: undefined, number: 7 }));
+			assert.strictEqual(result, '${issueType}-7');
+		});
+	});
 });
\ No newline at end of file