diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap b/lib/platform/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
index 1b1f3961bba9a4..f086e94fa491ae 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
@@ -181,6 +181,15 @@ Object {
 
 exports[`platform/azure getBranchPr(branchName) should return the pr 1`] = `null`;
 
+exports[`platform/azure getJsonFile() supports fetch from another repo 1`] = `
+Array [
+  Array [
+    "123456",
+    "file.json",
+  ],
+]
+`;
+
 exports[`platform/azure getPr(prNo) should return a pr in the right format 1`] = `
 Object {
   "body": undefined,
diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts b/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
index 27108d2ed39bd7..7c18b91d8087bc 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/index.spec.ts
@@ -1214,5 +1214,22 @@ describe('platform/azure', () => {
       );
       await expect(azure.getJsonFile('file.json')).rejects.toThrow();
     });
+    it('supports fetch from another repo', async () => {
+      const data = { foo: 'bar' };
+      const gitApiMock = {
+        getItemContent: jest.fn(() =>
+          Promise.resolve(Readable.from(JSON.stringify(data)))
+        ),
+        getRepositories: jest.fn(() =>
+          Promise.resolve([
+            { id: '123456', name: 'bar', project: { name: 'foo' } },
+          ])
+        ),
+      };
+      azureApi.gitApi.mockImplementationOnce(() => gitApiMock as any);
+      const res = await azure.getJsonFile('file.json', 'foo/bar');
+      expect(res).toEqual(data);
+      expect(gitApiMock.getItemContent.mock.calls).toMatchSnapshot();
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/index.ts b/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
index 20592a34a76516..5b0bc3bab7c375 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/index.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import {
   getNewBranchName,
   getProjectAndRepo,
   getRenovatePRFormat,
+  getRepoByName,
   getStorageExtraCloneOpts,
   max4000Chars,
   streamToString,
@@ -109,19 +110,29 @@ export async function getRepos(): Promise<string[]> {
 
 export async function getRawFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repo: string = config.repoId
+  repoName?: string
 ): Promise<string | null> {
   const azureApiGit = await azureApi.gitApi();
-  const buf = await azureApiGit.getItemContent(repo, fileName);
+
+  let repoId: string;
+  if (repoName) {
+    const repos = await azureApiGit.getRepositories();
+    const repo = getRepoByName(repoName, repos);
+    repoId = repo.id;
+  } else {
+    repoId = config.repoId;
+  }
+
+  const buf = await azureApiGit.getItemContent(repoId, fileName);
   const str = await streamToString(buf);
   return str;
 }
 
 export async function getJsonFile(
   fileName: string,
-  repo: string = config.repoId
+  repoName?: string
 ): Promise<any | null> {
-  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repo);
+  const raw = await getRawFile(fileName, repoName);
   return JSON.parse(raw);
 }
 
@@ -134,12 +145,7 @@ export async function initRepo({
   config = { repository } as Config;
   const azureApiGit = await azureApi.gitApi();
   const repos = await azureApiGit.getRepositories();
-  const names = getProjectAndRepo(repository);
-  const repo = repos.filter(
-    (c) =>
-      c.name.toLowerCase() === names.repo.toLowerCase() &&
-      c.project.name.toLowerCase() === names.project.toLowerCase()
-  )[0];
+  const repo = getRepoByName(repository, repos);
   logger.debug({ repositoryDetails: repo }, 'Repository details');
   // istanbul ignore if
   if (!repo.defaultBranch) {
@@ -153,6 +159,7 @@ export async function initRepo({
   const defaultBranch = repo.defaultBranch.replace('refs/heads/', '');
   config.defaultBranch = defaultBranch;
   logger.debug(`${repository} default branch = ${defaultBranch}`);
+  const names = getProjectAndRepo(repository);
   config.defaultMergeMethod = await azureHelper.getMergeMethod(
     repo.id,
     names.project
diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/util.spec.ts b/lib/platform/azure/util.spec.ts
index 48df6ad0e396da..c816ea2229db6d 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/util.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/util.spec.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   getNewBranchName,
   getProjectAndRepo,
   getRenovatePRFormat,
+  getRepoByName,
   getStorageExtraCloneOpts,
   max4000Chars,
   streamToString,
@@ -178,4 +179,51 @@ describe('platform/azure/helpers', () => {
       );
     });
   });
+
+  describe('getRepoByName', () => {
+    it('returns null when repos array is empty', () => {
+      expect(getRepoByName('foo/bar', [])).toBeNull();
+      expect(getRepoByName('foo/bar', undefined)).toBeNull();
+      expect(getRepoByName('foo/bar', null)).toBeNull();
+    });
+    it('returns null when repo is not found', () => {
+      expect(
+        getRepoByName('foo/foo', [{ name: 'bar', project: { name: 'bar' } }])
+      ).toBeNull();
+    });
+    it('finds repo', () => {
+      expect(
+        getRepoByName('foo/bar', [
+          { id: '1', name: 'baz', project: { name: 'qux' } },
+          null,
+          undefined,
+          { id: '2', name: 'bar' },
+          { id: '3', name: 'bar', project: { name: 'foo' } },
+          { id: '4', name: 'bar', project: { name: 'foo' } },
+        ])
+      ).toMatchObject({ id: '3' });
+    });
+    it('supports shorthand names', () => {
+      expect(
+        getRepoByName('foo', [
+          { id: '1', name: 'bar', project: { name: 'bar' } },
+          { id: '2', name: 'foo', project: { name: 'foo' } },
+        ])
+      ).toMatchObject({ id: '2' });
+    });
+    it('is case-independent', () => {
+      const repos = [
+        { id: '1', name: 'FOO', project: { name: 'FOO' } },
+        { id: '2', name: 'foo', project: { name: 'foo' } },
+      ];
+      expect(getRepoByName('FOO/foo', repos)).toMatchObject({ id: '1' });
+      expect(getRepoByName('foo/FOO', repos)).toMatchObject({ id: '1' });
+      expect(getRepoByName('foo/foo', repos)).toMatchObject({ id: '1' });
+    });
+    it('throws when repo name is invalid', () => {
+      expect(() => getRepoByName(undefined, [])).toThrow();
+      expect(() => getRepoByName(null, [])).toThrow();
+      expect(() => getRepoByName('foo/bar/baz', [])).toThrow();
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/lib/platform/azure/util.ts b/lib/platform/azure/util.ts
index d2807a28086aa4..7a5fce052a4296 100644
--- a/lib/platform/azure/util.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/azure/util.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import {
   GitPullRequest,
+  GitRepository,
   GitStatusContext,
   PullRequestAsyncStatus,
   PullRequestStatus,
@@ -182,3 +183,22 @@ export function getProjectAndRepo(
   logger.error(msg);
   throw new Error(msg);
 }
+
+export function getRepoByName(
+  name: string,
+  repos: GitRepository[]
+): GitRepository | null {
+  logger.trace(`getRepoByName(${name})`);
+
+  let { project, repo } = getProjectAndRepo(name);
+  project = project.toLowerCase();
+  repo = repo.toLowerCase();
+
+  return (
+    repos?.find(
+      (r) =>
+        project === r?.project?.name?.toLowerCase() &&
+        repo === r?.name?.toLowerCase()
+    ) || null
+  );
+}