diff --git a/.changeset/mean-zoos-move.md b/.changeset/mean-zoos-move.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4687c0492bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/mean-zoos-move.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/plugin-commands-publishing": patch
+---
+
+Show friendly error message when get current git branch name error.
diff --git a/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/src/gitChecks.ts b/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/src/gitChecks.ts
index dbabdb6814b..017b5d8029d 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/src/gitChecks.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/src/gitChecks.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,13 @@ export async function isGitRepo () {
 }
 
 export async function getCurrentBranch () {
-  const { stdout } = await execa('git', ['symbolic-ref', '--short', 'HEAD'])
-  return stdout
+  try {
+    const { stdout } = await execa('git', ['symbolic-ref', '--short', 'HEAD'])
+    return stdout
+  } catch (_: any) {  // eslint-disable-line
+    // Command will fail with code 1 if the HEAD is detached.
+    return null
+  }
 }
 
 export async function isWorkingTreeClean () {
diff --git a/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/src/publish.ts b/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/src/publish.ts
index aae9c42cf52..282a438472d 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/src/publish.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/src/publish.ts
@@ -116,6 +116,15 @@ export async function handler (
     }
     const branches = opts.publishBranch ? [opts.publishBranch] : ['master', 'main']
     const currentBranch = await getCurrentBranch()
+    if (currentBranch === null) {
+      throw new PnpmError(
+        'GIT_UNKNOWN_BRANCH',
+        `The Git HEAD may not attached to any branch, but your "publish-branch" is set to "${branches.join('|')}".`,
+        {
+          hint: GIT_CHECKS_HINT,
+        }
+      )
+    }
     if (!branches.includes(currentBranch)) {
       const { confirm } = await prompt({
         message: `You're on branch "${currentBranch}" but your "publish-branch" is set to "${branches.join('|')}". \
diff --git a/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/test/gitChecks.ts b/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/test/gitChecks.ts
index 781a348223b..3ae5be0be46 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/test/gitChecks.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-commands-publishing/test/gitChecks.ts
@@ -135,3 +135,28 @@ test('publish: fails git check if branch is not up-to-date', async () => {
     new PnpmError('GIT_NOT_LATEST', 'Remote history differs. Please pull changes.')
   )
 })
+
+test('publish: fails git check if HEAD is detached', async () => {
+  prepare({
+    name: 'test-publish-package.json',
+    version: '0.0.0',
+  })
+
+  await execa('git', ['init'])
+  await execa('git', ['config', 'user.email', 'x@y.z'])
+  await execa('git', ['config', 'user.name', 'xyz'])
+  await execa('git', ['add', '*'])
+  await execa('git', ['commit', '-m', 'init', '--no-gpg-sign'])
+  await execa('git', ['commit', '--allow-empty', '--allow-empty-message', '-m', '', '--no-gpg-sign'])
+  await execa('git', ['checkout', 'HEAD~1'])
+
+  await expect(
+    publish.handler({
+      ...DEFAULT_OPTS,
+      argv: { original: ['publish', ...CREDENTIALS] },
+      dir: process.cwd(),
+    }, [])
+  ).rejects.toThrow(
+    new PnpmError('GIT_UNKNOWN_BRANCH', 'The Git HEAD may not attached to any branch, but your "publish-branch" is set to "master|main".')
+  )
+})