diff --git a/src/babashka/cli.cljc b/src/babashka/cli.cljc
index 68afc2c..05451ff 100644
--- a/src/babashka/cli.cljc
+++ b/src/babashka/cli.cljc
@@ -1291,6 +1291,11 @@
   (when (:cmds node)
     (throw (ex-info "A tree node contains :cmds (table entry syntax): nest children under :cmd, or pass a table (vector of entries)"
                     {:node node})))
+  #?(:squint nil :cljd nil :default
+     (doseq [k (if (vector? (:cmd node)) (map first (:cmd node)) (keys (:cmd node)))]
+       (when-not (or (string? k) (symbol? k) (keyword? k))
+         (throw (ex-info (str "Command name " (pr-str k) " is not a string, symbol or keyword")
+                         {:node node :key k})))))
   (let [;; a vector `:cmd` (pairs `[[name child] ...]`) preserves child order without
         ;; relying on map iteration order; fold it into the lookup map + `::cmd-order`
         node (if (vector? (:cmd node))
diff --git a/test/babashka/cli_test.cljc b/test/babashka/cli_test.cljc
index 5793bc8..81569ec 100644
--- a/test/babashka/cli_test.cljc
+++ b/test/babashka/cli_test.cljc
@@ -781,6 +781,13 @@
                      (take-while #(str/starts-with? % "  "))
                      (mapv #(str/trim %)))))))))
 
+#?(:squint nil :cljd nil :default
+   (deftest cmd-key-guard-test
+     (testing "a :cmd key that is not a name throws with an explanation"
+       (is (thrown-with-msg?
+            Exception #"is not a string, symbol or keyword"
+            (cli/dispatch {:cmd {identity {:fn identity}}} ["x"]))))))
+
 (deftest dispatch-exec-fn-test
   (testing ":exec-fn is called with just the parsed opts; :fn with the whole map"
     (is (= {:foo 1 :bar true}