diff --git a/doc/en/conf.py b/doc/en/conf.py
index c4dd252f9..f69021e94 100644
--- a/doc/en/conf.py
+++ b/doc/en/conf.py
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ extensions = [
     "sphinx_removed_in",
     "sphinxcontrib_trio",
     "sphinxcontrib.towncrier.ext",  # provides `towncrier-draft-entries` directive
+    "sphinx_issues",  # implements `:issue:`, `:pr:` and other GH-related roles
 ]
 
 # Building PDF docs on readthedocs requires inkscape for svg to pdf
@@ -170,13 +171,8 @@ linkcheck_ignore = [
 linkcheck_workers = 5
 
 
-_repo = "https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest"
 extlinks = {
     "bpo": ("https://bugs.python.org/issue%s", "bpo-%s"),
-    "pypi": ("https://pypi.org/project/%s/", "%s"),
-    "issue": (f"{_repo}/issues/%s", "issue #%s"),
-    "pr": (f"{_repo}/pull/%s", "pull request #%s"),
-    "user": ("https://github.com/%s", "@%s"),
 }
 
 
@@ -451,6 +447,13 @@ towncrier_draft_working_directory = PROJECT_ROOT_DIR
 towncrier_draft_config_path = "pyproject.toml"  # relative to cwd
 
 
+# -- Options for sphinx_issues extension -----------------------------------
+
+issues_github_path = "pytest-dev/pytest"
+issues_prefix = "issue #"
+issues_pr_prefix = "pull request #"
+
+
 intersphinx_mapping = {
     "pluggy": ("https://pluggy.readthedocs.io/en/stable", None),
     "python": ("https://docs.python.org/3", None),
diff --git a/doc/en/requirements.txt b/doc/en/requirements.txt
index e40a15f1f..0637c967b 100644
--- a/doc/en/requirements.txt
+++ b/doc/en/requirements.txt
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter
 packaging
 furo
 sphinxcontrib-towncrier
+sphinx-issues