diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2a973bf..f9d5511 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -40,9 +40,14 @@ Unlike standard actions, this action just uses variables from the environment.
 | PULL_REQUEST_FROM_BRANCH | if a branch isn't found in your GitHub payload, use this branch | false | |
 | PULL_REQUEST_BODY | the body for the pull request | false | |
 | PULL REQUEST_TITLE | the title for the pull request | false | |
-| PULL REQUEST_DRAFT | should this be a draft PR? | false | false |
+| PULL REQUEST_DRAFT | should this be a draft PR? | false | unset |
+| MAINTAINER_CANT_MODIFY | Do not allow the maintainer to modify the PR | false | unset |
 
-All booleans should be lowercase.
+For `PULL_REQUEST_DRAFT` and `MAINTAINER_CAN_MODIFY`, these are treated as environment
+booleans. If they are defined in the environment, they trigger the "true" condition. E.g.,:
+
+ - Define `MAINTAINER_CANT_MODIFY` if you don't want the maintainer to be able to modify the pull request.
+ - Define `PULL_REQUEST_DRAFT` if you want the PR to be a draft.
 
 The `GITHUB_TOKEN` secret is required to interact and authenticate with the GitHub API to open
 the pull request. The example is [deployed here](https://github.com/vsoch/pull-request-action-example) with an example opened (and merged) [pull request here](https://github.com/vsoch/pull-request-action-example/pull/1) if needed.
diff --git a/pull-request.sh b/pull-request.sh
index 18146ee..9ae6fd2 100755
--- a/pull-request.sh
+++ b/pull-request.sh
@@ -49,16 +49,10 @@ create_pull_request() {
     TARGET="$(echo -n "${2}" | jq --raw-input --slurp ".")"  # pull request TO this target
     BODY="$(echo -n "${3}" | jq --raw-input --slurp ".")"    # this is the content of the message
     TITLE="$(echo -n "${4}" | jq --raw-input --slurp ".")"   # pull request title
-
-    # JSON boolean
-    if [[ "${5}" ==  "true" ]]; then                         # if PRs are draft
-        DRAFT="true";
-    else
-        DRAFT="false";
-    fi
+    DRAFT="${5}"                                             # pull request draft?
+    MODIFY="${6}"                                            # maintainer can modify
 
     # Check if the branch already has a pull request open
-
     DATA="{\"base\":${TARGET}, \"head\":${SOURCE}, \"body\":${BODY}}"
     RESPONSE=$(curl -sSL -H "${AUTH_HEADER}" -H "${HEADER}" --user "${GITHUB_ACTOR}" -X GET --data "${DATA}" ${PULLS_URL})
     PR=$(echo "${RESPONSE}" | jq --raw-output '.[] | .head.ref')
@@ -71,7 +65,7 @@ create_pull_request() {
     # Option 2: Open a new pull request
     else
         # Post the pull request
-        DATA="{\"title\":${TITLE}, \"body\":${BODY}, \"base\":${TARGET}, \"head\":${SOURCE}, \"draft\":${DRAFT}}"
+        DATA="{\"title\":${TITLE}, \"body\":${BODY}, \"base\":${TARGET}, \"head\":${SOURCE}, \"draft\":${DRAFT}, \"maintainer_can_modify\":${MODIFY}}"
         printf "curl --user ${GITHUB_ACTOR} -X POST --data ${DATA} ${PULLS_URL}\n"
         curl -sSL -H "${AUTH_HEADER}" -H "${HEADER}" --user "${GITHUB_ACTOR}" -X POST --data "${DATA}" ${PULLS_URL}
         echo $?
@@ -98,6 +92,7 @@ main () {
     fi
     printf "Pull requests will go to ${PULL_REQUEST_BRANCH}\n"
 
+    # Pull request draft
     if [ -z "${PULL_REQUEST_DRAFT}" ]; then
         printf "No explicit preference for draft PR: created PRs will be normal PRs.\n"
         PULL_REQUEST_DRAFT="false"
@@ -106,6 +101,15 @@ main () {
         PULL_REQUEST_DRAFT="true"
     fi
 
+    # Maintainer can modify, defaults to CAN, unless user sets MAINTAINER_CANT_MODIFY
+    if [ -z "${MAINTAINER_CANT_MODIFY}" ]; then
+        printf "No explicit preference for maintainer being able to modify: default is true.\n"
+        MODIFY="true"
+    else
+        printf "Environment variable MAINTAINER_CANT_MODIFY set to a value: maintainer will not be able to modify.\n"
+        MODIFY="false"
+    fi
+
     # The user is allowed to explicitly set the name of the branch
     if [ -z "${PULL_REQUEST_FROM_BRANCH}" ]; then
         printf "PULL_REQUEST_FROM_BRANCH is not set, checking branch in payload.\n"
@@ -149,7 +153,8 @@ main () {
             fi
             printf "Pull request title is ${PULL_REQUEST_TITLE}\n"
 
-            create_pull_request "${BRANCH}" "${PULL_REQUEST_BRANCH}" "${PULL_REQUEST_BODY}" "${PULL_REQUEST_TITLE}" "${PULL_REQUEST_DRAFT}"
+            create_pull_request "${BRANCH}" "${PULL_REQUEST_BRANCH}" "${PULL_REQUEST_BODY}" \
+                                "${PULL_REQUEST_TITLE}" "${PULL_REQUEST_DRAFT}" "${MODIFY}"
 
         fi