diff --git a/docs/integrations/github/discovery.md b/docs/integrations/github/discovery.md
index 874df46dc3..b7e9fd031f 100644
--- a/docs/integrations/github/discovery.md
+++ b/docs/integrations/github/discovery.md
@@ -93,8 +93,9 @@ catalog:
         filters:
           branch: 'main' # string
           repository: '.*' # Regex
-          topic: 'backstage-include' # optional string
-          topicIncludesIfMatch: true # optional boolean (default: false)
+          topic:
+            name: 'backstage-include' # optional string
+            type: 'INCLUDES' # optional enum (INCLUDES or EXCLUDES)
 ```
 
 This provider supports multiple organizations via unique provider IDs.
@@ -112,11 +113,13 @@ This provider supports multiple organizations via unique provider IDs.
   - **repository** _(optional)_:
     Regular expression used to filter results based on the repository name.
   - **topic** _(optional)_:
-    String used to filter results based on repository topics. By default, repositories that match the topic filter will be **ignored**. See below for the inverse.
-    This is useful for excluding excess locations from being registered such as experiments, practical tests, non-production tooling and so on.
-  - **topicIncludesIfMatch** _(optional)_:
-    Default: `false`
-    If set to `true` and a topic filter is set, **ONLY** repositories matching the topic filter will have a location registered.
+    - **name** _(optional)_:
+      String used to filter results based on repository topics. If configured, only repositories that match the topic filter will be registered. See below for the reverse.
+      This is useful for excluding excess locations from being registered such as experiments, practical tests, non-production tooling and so on.
+    - **type** _(optional)_:
+      Default: `INCLUDES`
+      When set to `INCLUDES`, locations matching the topic filter will be registered and other repositories will be ignored
+      When set to `EXCLUDES`, locations matching the topic filter will not be registered and other repositories will be registered
 - **organization**:
   Name of your organization account/workspace.
   If you want to add multiple organizations, you need to add one provider config each.
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProvider.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProvider.test.ts
index ef3a4dbbdd..3156bc3a3d 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProvider.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProvider.test.ts
@@ -200,7 +200,9 @@ describe('GitHubEntityProvider', () => {
               filters: {
                 branch: 'main',
                 repository: 'test-.*',
-                topic: 'blah',
+                topic: {
+                  name: 'blah',
+                },
               },
             },
           },
@@ -268,8 +270,10 @@ describe('GitHubEntityProvider', () => {
               filters: {
                 branch: 'main',
                 repository: 'test-.*',
-                topic: 'backstage-include',
-                topicIncludesIfMatch: true,
+                topic: {
+                  name: 'backstage-include',
+                  type: 'INCLUDES',
+                },
               },
             },
           },
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProvider.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProvider.ts
index 9bb0c990df..e77e61cf7e 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProvider.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProvider.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import { Logger } from 'winston';
 import {
   readProviderConfigs,
   GitHubEntityProviderConfig,
+  TopicTypes,
 } from './GitHubEntityProviderConfig';
 import { getOrganizationRepositories, Repository } from '../lib/github';
 
@@ -184,17 +185,29 @@ export class GitHubEntityProvider implements EntityProvider {
   private matchesFilters(repositories: Repository[]) {
     const repositoryFilter = this.config.filters?.repository;
     const topicFilter = this.config.filters?.topic;
-    const topicIncludesIfMatch = this.config.filters?.topicIncludesIfMatch;
 
     const matchingRepositories = repositories.filter(r => {
-      const topics: string[] = r.repositoryTopics.nodes.map(
+      const repoTopics: string[] = r.repositoryTopics.nodes.map(
         node => node.topic.name,
       );
+      const satisfiesTopicFilter = (
+        topics: string[],
+        filter: typeof topicFilter,
+      ) => {
+        if (!filter || !filter.name) return true;
+        if (filter.type === TopicTypes.Includes && topics.includes(filter.name))
+          return true;
+        if (
+          filter.type === TopicTypes.Excludes &&
+          !topics.includes(filter.name)
+        )
+          return true;
+        return false;
+      };
       return (
         !r.isArchived &&
         (!repositoryFilter || repositoryFilter.test(r.name)) &&
-        (!topicFilter ||
-          (topics.includes(topicFilter) && topicIncludesIfMatch)) &&
+        satisfiesTopicFilter(repoTopics, topicFilter) &&
         r.defaultBranchRef?.name
       );
     });
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.test.ts
index 2648129c6f..6db89f62d8 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.test.ts
@@ -71,14 +71,18 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
             providerWithTopicFilter: {
               organization: 'test-org5',
               filters: {
-                topic: 'backstage-exclude',
+                topic: {
+                  name: 'backstage-exclude',
+                },
               },
             },
             providerWithTopicFilterAndInclusion: {
               organization: 'test-org6',
               filters: {
-                topic: 'backstage-include',
-                topicIncludesIfMatch: false,
+                topic: {
+                  name: 'backstage-include',
+                  type: 'INCLUDES',
+                },
               },
             },
           },
@@ -95,8 +99,10 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
       filters: {
         repository: undefined,
         branch: undefined,
-        topic: undefined,
-        topicIncludesIfMatch: false,
+        topic: {
+          name: undefined,
+          type: 'EXCLUDES',
+        },
       },
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[1]).toEqual({
@@ -106,8 +112,10 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
       filters: {
         repository: undefined,
         branch: undefined,
-        topic: undefined,
-        topicIncludesIfMatch: false,
+        topic: {
+          name: undefined,
+          type: 'EXCLUDES',
+        },
       },
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[2]).toEqual({
@@ -117,8 +125,10 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
       filters: {
         repository: /^repository.*filter$/, // repo
         branch: undefined, // branch
-        topic: undefined,
-        topicIncludesIfMatch: false,
+        topic: {
+          name: undefined,
+          type: 'EXCLUDES',
+        },
       },
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[3]).toEqual({
@@ -128,8 +138,10 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
       filters: {
         repository: undefined,
         branch: 'branch-name',
-        topic: undefined,
-        topicIncludesIfMatch: false,
+        topic: {
+          name: undefined,
+          type: 'EXCLUDES',
+        },
       },
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[4]).toEqual({
@@ -139,8 +151,10 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
       filters: {
         repository: undefined,
         branch: undefined,
-        topic: 'backstage-exclude',
-        topicIncludesIfMatch: false,
+        topic: {
+          name: 'backstage-exclude',
+          type: 'EXCLUDES',
+        },
       },
     });
     expect(providerConfigs[5]).toEqual({
@@ -150,8 +164,10 @@ describe('readProviderConfigs', () => {
       filters: {
         repository: undefined,
         branch: undefined,
-        topic: 'backstage-include',
-        topicIncludesIfMatch: false,
+        topic: {
+          name: 'backstage-include',
+          type: 'INCLUDES',
+        },
       },
     });
   });
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.ts
index 104f12c17c..609cdf163d 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend-module-github/src/providers/GitHubEntityProviderConfig.ts
@@ -16,9 +16,17 @@
 
 import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
 
+export enum TopicTypes {
+  Includes = 'INCLUDES',
+  Excludes = 'EXCLUDES',
+}
+
+const isValidTopicType = (topicType: string) =>
+  (Object.values(TopicTypes) as string[]).includes(topicType);
+
 const DEFAULT_CATALOG_PATH = '/catalog-info.yaml';
 const DEFAULT_PROVIDER_ID = 'default';
-const DEFAULT_TOPIC_INCLUSION = false;
+const DEFAULT_TOPIC_FILTER_TYPE: TopicTypes = TopicTypes.Excludes;
 
 export type GitHubEntityProviderConfig = {
   id: string;
@@ -27,8 +35,10 @@ export type GitHubEntityProviderConfig = {
   filters?: {
     repository?: RegExp;
     branch?: string;
-    topic?: string;
-    topicIncludesIfMatch: boolean;
+    topic?: {
+      name?: string;
+      type: TopicTypes;
+    };
   };
 };
 
@@ -61,10 +71,9 @@ function readProviderConfig(
     config.getOptionalString('catalogPath') ?? DEFAULT_CATALOG_PATH;
   const repositoryPattern = config.getOptionalString('filters.repository');
   const branchPattern = config.getOptionalString('filters.branch');
-  const topicPattern = config.getOptionalString('filters.topic');
-  const topicIncludesIfMatch =
-    config.getOptionalBoolean('filters.topicIncludesIfMatch') ??
-    DEFAULT_TOPIC_INCLUSION;
+  const topicFilterConfig = config.getOptionalConfig('filters.topic');
+  const topicFilterName = topicFilterConfig?.getOptionalString('name');
+  const topicFilterType = topicFilterConfig?.getOptionalString('type');
 
   return {
     id,
@@ -75,8 +84,13 @@ function readProviderConfig(
         ? compileRegExp(repositoryPattern)
         : undefined,
       branch: branchPattern || undefined,
-      topic: topicPattern || undefined,
-      topicIncludesIfMatch,
+      topic: {
+        name: topicFilterName || undefined,
+        type:
+          topicFilterType && isValidTopicType(topicFilterType)
+            ? (topicFilterType as TopicTypes)
+            : DEFAULT_TOPIC_FILTER_TYPE,
+      },
     },
   };
 }