diff --git a/github/issues.go b/github/issues.go
index 12488f9815e..1089ef7d4b7 100644
--- a/github/issues.go
+++ b/github/issues.go
@@ -77,13 +77,14 @@ func (i Issue) IsPullRequest() bool {
 // It is separate from Issue above because otherwise Labels
 // and Assignee fail to serialize to the correct JSON.
 type IssueRequest struct {
-	Title     *string   `json:"title,omitempty"`
-	Body      *string   `json:"body,omitempty"`
-	Labels    *[]string `json:"labels,omitempty"`
-	Assignee  *string   `json:"assignee,omitempty"`
-	State     *string   `json:"state,omitempty"`
-	Milestone *int      `json:"milestone,omitempty"`
-	Assignees *[]string `json:"assignees,omitempty"`
+	Title       *string   `json:"title,omitempty"`
+	Body        *string   `json:"body,omitempty"`
+	Labels      *[]string `json:"labels,omitempty"`
+	Assignee    *string   `json:"assignee,omitempty"`
+	State       *string   `json:"state,omitempty"`
+	StateReason *string   `json:"state_reason,omitempty"`
+	Milestone   *int      `json:"milestone,omitempty"`
+	Assignees   *[]string `json:"assignees,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // IssueListOptions specifies the optional parameters to the IssuesService.List