diff --git a/cookiecutter.json b/cookiecutter.json
index e6d37188..9b2cc71b 100644
--- a/cookiecutter.json
+++ b/cookiecutter.json
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
         "Unlicense"
     ],
     "ide_integration": true,
+    "issue_categorization": ["labels", "issue types"],
     "_copy_without_render": [
         ".github/workflows/build.yaml",
         ".github/workflows/test.yaml",
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@
         "author_email": "The e-mail address your package’s users can contact you under",
         "github_user": "The GitHub username or org the project is to be published under",
         "github_repo": "If the repo name should differ from the project name, edit it now",
-        "ide_integration": "Whether to generate IDE configuration files"
+        "ide_integration": "Whether to generate IDE configuration files",
+        "issue_categorization": "How to categorize issues in the issue templates. “issue types” only works in GitHub organizations, while  “labels” also works in personal repos."
     }
 }
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test_build.py b/scripts/tests/test_build.py
index daa87f9e..e17acba4 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/test_build.py
+++ b/scripts/tests/test_build.py
@@ -22,6 +22,25 @@
         pytest.param({"github_repo": "floob"}, "docs/conf.py", r'"github_repo": "floob",', id="gh_repo"),
         pytest.param({}, ".vscode/extensions.json", r'"ms-python.python",', id="no_ide_integ"),
         pytest.param({"ide_integration": False}, ".vscode", None, id="ide_integ"),
+        pytest.param({}, ".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml", r"^labels: bug$", id="default_labels"),
+        pytest.param(
+            {"issue_categorization": "labels"},
+            ".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml",
+            r"^labels: enhancement$",
+            id="labels",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            {"issue_categorization": "issue types"},
+            ".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml",
+            r"^type: Bug$",
+            id="issue_types_bug",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            {"issue_categorization": "issue types"},
+            ".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml",
+            r"^type: Enhancement$",
+            id="issue_types_feature",
+        ),
     ],
 )
 def test_build(tmp_path: Path, params: Mapping[str, Any], path: Path | str, pattern: re.Pattern | str | None) -> None:
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml
index 6104b9e6..aee13650 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 name: Bug report
 description: Report something that is broken or incorrect
+{% if cookiecutter.issue_categorization == "issue types" %}
 type: Bug
+{% else %}
+labels: bug
+{% endif %}
 body:
   - type: markdown
     attributes:
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml
index c0f52a9d..3ee69f5d 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_name}}/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 name: Feature request
 description: Propose a new feature for {{ cookiecutter.project_name }}
+{% if cookiecutter.issue_categorization == "issue types" %}
 type: Enhancement
+{% else %}
+labels: enhancement
+{% endif %}
 body:
   - type: textarea
     id: description