diff --git a/.changeset/rotten-mayflies-enjoy.md b/.changeset/rotten-mayflies-enjoy.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..905f9cce8e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/rotten-mayflies-enjoy.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/plugin-commands-licenses": patch
+"pnpm": patch
+---
+
+`pnpm licenses` should print help, not just an error message [#5745](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/issues/5745).
diff --git a/reviewing/plugin-commands-licenses/src/licenses.ts b/reviewing/plugin-commands-licenses/src/licenses.ts
index 443193f5ceb..ba2facb4536 100644
--- a/reviewing/plugin-commands-licenses/src/licenses.ts
+++ b/reviewing/plugin-commands-licenses/src/licenses.ts
@@ -85,7 +85,9 @@ export async function handler (
   params: string[] = []
 ) {
   if (params.length === 0) {
-    throw new PnpmError('LICENCES_NO_SUBCOMMAND', 'Please specify the subcommand')
+    throw new PnpmError('LICENCES_NO_SUBCOMMAND', 'Please specify the subcommand', {
+      hint: help(),
+    })
   }
   switch (params[0]) {
   case 'list':