diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/gl_dropdown.js b/app/assets/javascripts/gl_dropdown.js
index 50d822eba5a2bbe70c8ee5bac4cb0c32ce4992e4..ff218ccad62d0a6cd890561c3638f375355dcc89 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/gl_dropdown.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/gl_dropdown.js
@@ -548,6 +548,7 @@ GitLabDropdown = (function() {
   GitLabDropdown.prototype.positionMenuAbove = function() {
     var $menu = this.dropdown.find('.dropdown-menu');
 
+    $menu.addClass('dropdown-open-top');
     $menu.css('top', 'initial');
     $menu.css('bottom', '100%');
   };
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/dropdowns.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/dropdowns.scss
index c0d8e6c328cee69ada757ebbbc1247f79f3d8760..b8b8caca048f9884cf3936416fa1e6e431c7037d 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/dropdowns.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/dropdowns.scss
@@ -745,6 +745,10 @@
   #{$selector}.dropdown-menu-nav {
     margin-bottom: 24px;
 
+    &.dropdown-open-top {
+      margin-bottom: $dropdown-vertical-offset;
+    }
+
     li {
       display: block;
       padding: 0 1px;
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/new-nav.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/new-nav.scss
index d4b3fb238d5f3a96ed84adae008567a001cf5aa0..87ed0fa1d40be973f88abfa616cc0ff685d15217 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/new-nav.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/new-nav.scss
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ header.navbar-gitlab-new {
 
 .header-user .dropdown-menu-nav,
 .header-new .dropdown-menu-nav {
-  margin-top: 4px;
+  margin-top: $dropdown-vertical-offset;
 }
 
 .breadcrumbs {
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/variables.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/variables.scss
index e8bb42f4a8cbc92caa6c7d51875ba810a065df24..9bbda87dec9d21e5c4dbab4faa712195bf1e3649 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/variables.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/framework/variables.scss
@@ -327,6 +327,7 @@ $regular_font: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-San
 * Dropdowns
 */
 $dropdown-width: 300px;
+$dropdown-vertical-offset: 4px;
 $dropdown-link-color: #555;
 $dropdown-link-hover-bg: $row-hover;
 $dropdown-empty-row-bg: rgba(#000, .04);
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/pages/note_form.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/pages/note_form.scss
index be4db5976894c5483e45ba0dd7722e82892f084e..74d9acb5490bdb2c3147aef17421eb7644944bb5 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/pages/note_form.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/pages/note_form.scss
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@
 
   .dropdown-menu {
     top: initial;
-    bottom: 40px;
+    bottom: 100%;
     width: 298px;
   }
 
diff --git a/app/views/shared/notes/_comment_button.html.haml b/app/views/shared/notes/_comment_button.html.haml
index 1dfe380db161d0a742b589f2805103e245ba5672..4b9af78bc1ac63393a283d45dddd8d8ec848c670 100644
--- a/app/views/shared/notes/_comment_button.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/shared/notes/_comment_button.html.haml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     = button_tag type: 'button', class: 'btn btn-nr dropdown-toggle comment-btn js-note-new-discussion js-disable-on-submit', data: { 'dropdown-trigger' => '#resolvable-comment-menu' }, 'aria-label' => 'Open comment type dropdown' do
       = icon('caret-down', class: 'toggle-icon')
 
-    %ul#resolvable-comment-menu.dropdown-menu{ data: { dropdown: true } }
+    %ul#resolvable-comment-menu.dropdown-menu.dropdown-open-top{ data: { dropdown: true } }
       %li#comment.droplab-item-selected{ data: { value: '', 'submit-text' => 'Comment', 'close-text' => "Comment & close #{noteable_name}", 'reopen-text' => "Comment & reopen #{noteable_name}" } }
         %button.btn.btn-transparent
           = icon('check', class: 'icon')
diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/38187-38315-fix-dropdown-open-top-bottom-spacing.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/38187-38315-fix-dropdown-open-top-bottom-spacing.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..579c247c4c24a540501d7a6b94f37e07f73d09a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/38187-38315-fix-dropdown-open-top-bottom-spacing.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Fix bottom spacing for dropdowns that open upwards
+merge_request: 14535
+author:
+type: fixed