diff --git a/.changeset/brave-ties-move.md b/.changeset/brave-ties-move.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3034b59fe5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/brave-ties-move.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/plugin-commands-init": minor
+"pnpm": minor
+---
+
+Added a new flag called `--bare` to `pnpm init` for creating a package.json with the bare minimum of required fields [#10226](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/issues/10226).
diff --git a/packages/plugin-commands-init/src/init.ts b/packages/plugin-commands-init/src/init.ts
index 205a41d056..54f68df51d 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-commands-init/src/init.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-commands-init/src/init.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,13 @@ import { parseRawConfig } from './utils.js'
 export const rcOptionsTypes = cliOptionsTypes
 
 export function cliOptionsTypes (): Record<string, unknown> {
-  return pick(['init-type', 'init-package-manager'], allTypes)
+  return {
+    ...pick([
+      'init-package-manager',
+      'init-type',
+    ], allTypes),
+    bare: Boolean,
+  }
 }
 
 export const commandNames = ['init']
@@ -34,6 +40,10 @@ export function help (): string {
             description: 'Pin the project to the current pnpm version by adding a "packageManager" field to package.json',
             name: '--init-package-manager',
           },
+          {
+            description: 'Create a package.json file with the bare minimum of required fields',
+            name: '--bare',
+          },
         ],
       },
     ],
@@ -42,10 +52,17 @@ export function help (): string {
   })
 }
 
-export async function handler (
-  opts: Pick<UniversalOptions, 'rawConfig'> & Pick<Config, 'cliOptions'> & Partial<Pick<Config, 'initPackageManager' | 'initType'>>,
-  params?: string[]
-): Promise<string> {
+export type InitOptions =
+  & Pick<UniversalOptions, 'rawConfig'>
+  & Pick<Config, 'cliOptions'>
+  & Partial<Pick<Config,
+  | 'initPackageManager'
+  | 'initType'
+  >> & {
+    bare?: boolean
+  }
+
+export async function handler (opts: InitOptions, params?: string[]): Promise<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(' ')}"`,
@@ -58,18 +75,20 @@ export async function handler (
   if (fs.existsSync(manifestPath)) {
     throw new PnpmError('PACKAGE_JSON_EXISTS', 'package.json already exists')
   }
-  const manifest: ProjectManifest = {
-    name: path.basename(process.cwd()),
-    version: '1.0.0',
-    description: '',
-    main: 'index.js',
-    scripts: {
-      test: 'echo "Error: no test specified" && exit 1',
-    },
-    keywords: [],
-    author: '',
-    license: 'ISC',
-  }
+  const manifest: ProjectManifest = opts.bare
+    ? {}
+    : {
+      name: path.basename(process.cwd()),
+      version: '1.0.0',
+      description: '',
+      main: 'index.js',
+      scripts: {
+        test: 'echo "Error: no test specified" && exit 1',
+      },
+      keywords: [],
+      author: '',
+      license: 'ISC',
+    }
 
   if (opts.initType === 'module') {
     manifest.type = opts.initType
@@ -83,6 +102,7 @@ export async function handler (
   const priority = Object.fromEntries([
     'name',
     'version',
+    'private',
     'description',
     'main',
     'scripts',
diff --git a/packages/plugin-commands-init/test/init.test.ts b/packages/plugin-commands-init/test/init.test.ts
index ef07a8444a..e4cd29e82f 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-commands-init/test/init.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-commands-init/test/init.test.ts
@@ -91,3 +91,16 @@ test('init a new package.json with init-type=module', async () => {
   const manifest = loadJsonFile<ProjectManifest>(path.resolve('package.json'))
   expect(manifest.type).toEqual('module')
 })
+
+test('init a new package.json with --bare', async () => {
+  prepareEmpty()
+  await init.handler({ rawConfig: {}, cliOptions: {}, bare: true })
+  const manifest = loadJsonFileSync<ProjectManifest>(path.resolve('package.json'))
+  expect(manifest).not.toHaveProperty(['name'])
+  expect(manifest).not.toHaveProperty(['version'])
+  expect(manifest).not.toHaveProperty(['description'])
+  expect(manifest).not.toHaveProperty(['main'])
+  expect(manifest).not.toHaveProperty(['keywords'])
+  expect(manifest).not.toHaveProperty(['author'])
+  expect(manifest).not.toHaveProperty(['license'])
+})