diff --git a/internal/config/plugin_manager.go b/internal/config/plugin_manager.go
index 1c5bfd8bd2..2b12167947 100644
--- a/internal/config/plugin_manager.go
+++ b/internal/config/plugin_manager.go
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ func NewPluginInfo(data []byte) (*PluginInfo, error) {
 	if err := json5.Unmarshal(data, &info); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if len(info) == 0 || info[0].Name == "" {
+		return nil, ErrMissingName
+	}
 
 	return &info[0], nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/config/plugin_manager_test.go b/internal/config/plugin_manager_test.go
index f360469a04..ad26bee400 100644
--- a/internal/config/plugin_manager_test.go
+++ b/internal/config/plugin_manager_test.go
@@ -21,3 +21,11 @@ func TestNewPluginInfoAllowsJSON5Comments(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected plugin name %q, got %q", "example", info.Name)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestNewPluginInfoRejectsMissingName(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, data := range []string{`[]`, `null`, `[{}]`, `[{"Description": "no name"}]`} {
+		if info, err := NewPluginInfo([]byte(data)); err != ErrMissingName {
+			t.Errorf("NewPluginInfo(%s) = %v, %v; want ErrMissingName", data, info, err)
+		}
+	}
+}