diff --git a/go/libraries/doltcore/ref/branchname.go b/go/libraries/doltcore/ref/branchname.go
index 353fce03e56..e80f66644db 100644
--- a/go/libraries/doltcore/ref/branchname.go
+++ b/go/libraries/doltcore/ref/branchname.go
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ import (
 // InvalidBranchNameRegex is a list of patterns forbidden in a branch name.
 // For additional constraints on ref names, see datas.ValidateDatasetId
 var InvalidBranchNameRegex = regexp.MustCompile(strings.Join([]string{
-	// An exact name of "", "HEAD" or "-"
-	`\A\z`, `\AHEAD\z`, `\A-\z`,
+	// An exact name of "", "HEAD" or starts with "-"
+	`\A\z`, `\AHEAD\z`, `^-.{0,}`,
 	// A name that looks exactly like a commit id
 	`\A[0-9a-v]{32}\z`,
 	// Any empty component; that is, starting or ending with "/" or any appearance of "//"
diff --git a/go/libraries/doltcore/ref/branchname_test.go b/go/libraries/doltcore/ref/branchname_test.go
index 2b2339349a1..3ca9586f04a 100644
--- a/go/libraries/doltcore/ref/branchname_test.go
+++ b/go/libraries/doltcore/ref/branchname_test.go
@@ -82,4 +82,5 @@ func TestBranchName(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.False(t, IsValidBranchName("user.lock/working/mybranch"))
 	assert.False(t, IsValidBranchName("HEAD"))
 	assert.False(t, IsValidBranchName("-"))
+	assert.False(t, IsValidBranchName("-test"))
 }