diff --git a/.changeset/green-cows-work.md b/.changeset/green-cows-work.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9f9a2936c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/green-cows-work.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/plugin-commands-init": patch
+"pnpm": patch
+---
+
+Throw an error if arguments are passed to the `pnpm init` command.
diff --git a/packages/plugin-commands-init/src/init.ts b/packages/plugin-commands-init/src/init.ts
index 96b506cea4..1bb07f8a40 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-commands-init/src/init.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-commands-init/src/init.ts
@@ -25,8 +25,14 @@ export function help () {
 }
 
 export async function handler (
-  opts: Pick<UniversalOptions, 'rawConfig'>
+  opts: Pick<UniversalOptions, 'rawConfig'>,
+  params?: string[]
 ) {
+  if (params?.length) {
+    throw new PnpmError('INIT_ARG', 'init command does not accept any arguments', {
+      hint: `Maybe you wanted to run "pnpm create ${params.join(' ')}"`,
+    })
+  }
   // Using cwd instead of the dir option because the dir option
   // is set to the first parent directory that has a package.json file.
   const manifestPath = path.join(process.cwd(), 'package.json')
diff --git a/packages/plugin-commands-init/test/init.test.ts b/packages/plugin-commands-init/test/init.test.ts
index 3770ba6d12..30ba1cbfaf 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-commands-init/test/init.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-commands-init/test/init.test.ts
@@ -34,3 +34,11 @@ test('init a new package.json with npmrc', async () => {
   expect(manifest.author).toBe(expectAuthor)
   expect(manifest.license).toBe(rawConfig['init-license'])
 })
+
+test('throw an error if params are passed to the init command', async () => {
+  prepare({})
+
+  await expect(
+    init.handler({ rawConfig: {} }, ['react-app'])
+  ).rejects.toThrow('init command does not accept any arguments')
+})