diff --git a/src/main/github/client-issue-source.test.ts b/src/main/github/client-issue-source.test.ts
index cb65529b507..2e303664888 100644
--- a/src/main/github/client-issue-source.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/github/client-issue-source.test.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ function issueSearchArgs(
   ]
 }
 
-function prListArgs(ownerRepo: string, query = 'is:pr is:open'): string[] {
+function prListArgs(ownerRepo: string, query = 'is:open'): string[] {
   return [
     'pr',
     'list',
diff --git a/src/main/github/client-work-items-query-paging.test.ts b/src/main/github/client-work-items-query-paging.test.ts
index 8433f7f7e87..8a7affe1d33 100644
--- a/src/main/github/client-work-items-query-paging.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/github/client-work-items-query-paging.test.ts
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ describe('listWorkItems query paging', () => {
 
     expect(ghExecFileAsyncMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     expect(ghExecFileAsyncMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      expect.arrayContaining(['--search', 'is:pr is:open review-requested:@me sort:created-desc']),
+      expect.arrayContaining(['--search', 'is:open review-requested:@me sort:created-desc']),
       { cwd: '/repo-root' }
     )
     expect(ghExecFileAsyncMock).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ describe('listWorkItems query paging', () => {
     const { items } = await listWorkItems('/repo-root', 2, 'is:pr is:open', 2)
 
     expect(ghExecFileAsyncMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      expect.arrayContaining(['--limit', '4', '--search', 'is:pr is:open sort:created-desc']),
+      expect.arrayContaining(['--limit', '4', '--search', 'is:open sort:created-desc']),
       { cwd: '/repo-root' }
     )
     expect(items.map((item) => item.number)).toEqual([4, 3])
diff --git a/src/main/github/client-work-items.test.ts b/src/main/github/client-work-items.test.ts
index 948526e1354..68816d867f5 100644
--- a/src/main/github/client-work-items.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/github/client-work-items.test.ts
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ describe('listWorkItems', () => {
         '--repo',
         'acme/widgets',
         '--search',
-        'is:pr assignee:@me sort:created-desc'
+        'assignee:@me sort:created-desc'
       ],
       { cwd: '/repo-root' }
     )
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ describe('listWorkItems', () => {
         '--repo',
         'acme/widgets',
         '--search',
-        'is:pr is:open draft:true sort:created-desc'
+        'is:open draft:true sort:created-desc'
       ],
       { cwd: '/repo-root' }
     )
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ describe('listWorkItems', () => {
         '--repo',
         'acme/widgets',
         '--search',
-        'is:pr is:merged sort:created-desc'
+        'is:merged sort:created-desc'
       ],
       { cwd: '/repo-root' }
     )
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@ describe('listWorkItems', () => {
         '--state',
         'all',
         '--search',
-        'is:pr is:closed -is:merged sort:created-desc'
+        'is:closed -is:merged sort:created-desc'
       ]),
       { cwd: '/repo-root' }
     )
@@ -739,7 +739,7 @@ describe('listWorkItems', () => {
         '--repo',
         'acme/widgets',
         '--search',
-        'is:pr is:open sort:created-desc'
+        'is:open sort:created-desc'
       ],
       { cwd: '/repo-root' }
     )
diff --git a/src/main/github/client/list/work-item-list-request.ts b/src/main/github/client/list/work-item-list-request.ts
index 13a8de16854..d02b5ec1c28 100644
--- a/src/main/github/client/list/work-item-list-request.ts
+++ b/src/main/github/client/list/work-item-list-request.ts
@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ export function buildWorkItemListRequest(args: {
   const { kind, ownerRepo, limit, query, page } = args
   const searchParts: string[] = []
 
+  // gh pr list adds repo: and type:pr itself; an extra is:pr empties private-repo results for ghu_ tokens.
   if (kind === 'issue') {
-    searchParts.push(`repo:${ownerRepo.owner}/${ownerRepo.repo}`)
+    searchParts.push(`repo:${ownerRepo.owner}/${ownerRepo.repo}`, 'is:issue')
   }
-  searchParts.push(kind === 'issue' ? 'is:issue' : 'is:pr')
 
   if (query.state === 'open') {
     searchParts.push('is:open')
diff --git a/src/main/github/work-item-search-semantics.test.ts b/src/main/github/work-item-search-semantics.test.ts
index e5df22cddd3..1a13406d3d4 100644
--- a/src/main/github/work-item-search-semantics.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/github/work-item-search-semantics.test.ts
@@ -57,18 +57,18 @@ it.each([
 it.each([
   [
     'is:draft',
-    'is:pr is:open draft:true sort:created-desc',
+    'is:open draft:true sort:created-desc',
     'repo:fixture/repo is:pull-request is:open draft:true'
   ],
   [
     'is:pr is:closed',
-    'is:pr is:closed -is:merged sort:created-desc',
+    'is:closed -is:merged sort:created-desc',
     'repo:fixture/repo is:pull-request is:closed -is:merged'
   ],
-  ['is:merged', 'is:pr is:merged sort:created-desc', 'repo:fixture/repo is:pull-request is:merged'],
+  ['is:merged', 'is:merged sort:created-desc', 'repo:fixture/repo is:pull-request is:merged'],
   [
     'review-requested:"some user" reviewed-by:someone',
-    'is:pr review-requested:"some user" reviewed-by:someone sort:created-desc',
+    'review-requested:"some user" reviewed-by:someone sort:created-desc',
     'repo:fixture/repo is:pull-request review-requested:"some user" reviewed-by:someone'
   ]
 ])('keeps rich PR lists and full count predicates for %s', async (query, prSearch, countSearch) => {