diff --git a/lib/commands/install.js b/lib/commands/install.js
index 6687ec4371dd8..893ec259ff445 100644
--- a/lib/commands/install.js
+++ b/lib/commands/install.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ const { resolve, join } = require('path')
 const runScript = require('@npmcli/run-script')
 const pacote = require('pacote')
 const checks = require('npm-install-checks')
+const PackageJson = require('@npmcli/package-json')
 
 const ArboristWorkspaceCmd = require('../arborist-cmd.js')
 class Install extends ArboristWorkspaceCmd {
@@ -140,6 +141,21 @@ class Install extends ArboristWorkspaceCmd {
       throw this.usageError()
     }
 
+    if (!isGlobalInstall) {
+      const pkgJson = new PackageJson()
+      await pkgJson.load(this.npm.prefix)
+      const jsonContent = pkgJson.content
+      const isJsonEmptyObject = Object.keys(jsonContent).length === 0
+        && jsonContent.constructor === Object
+
+      const emptyJson = new Error('EEMPTYPKGJSON: package.json is empty object')
+      emptyJson.code = 'EEMPTYPKGJSON'
+      emptyJson.path = pkgJson.filename
+      if (isJsonEmptyObject) {
+        throw emptyJson
+      }
+    }
+
     const Arborist = require('@npmcli/arborist')
     const opts = {
       ...this.npm.flatOptions,
diff --git a/lib/utils/error-message.js b/lib/utils/error-message.js
index e3d6c3526936f..2ad9af31abefe 100644
--- a/lib/utils/error-message.js
+++ b/lib/utils/error-message.js
@@ -409,6 +409,14 @@ const errorMessage = (er, npm) => {
       ])
       break
 
+    case 'EEMPTYPKGJSON':
+      short.push(['eemptypkgjson', er.message])
+      detail.push([
+        'eemptypkgjson',
+        'The root of package.json is an empty object',
+      ])
+      break
+
     default:
       short.push(['', er.message || er])
       if (er.signal) {
diff --git a/smoke-tests/test/proxy.js b/smoke-tests/test/proxy.js
index 8746c546de55f..79108bbffbcca 100644
--- a/smoke-tests/test/proxy.js
+++ b/smoke-tests/test/proxy.js
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@ const setup = require('./fixtures/setup.js')
 
 t.test('proxy', async t => {
   const { npm, readFile } = await setup(t, {
+    testdir: {
+      project: {
+        '.npmrc': '',
+        'package.json': {
+          name: 'placeholder',
+        },
+      },
+    },
     mockRegistry: false,
     useProxy: true,
   })
@@ -10,6 +18,7 @@ t.test('proxy', async t => {
   await npm('install', 'abbrev@1.0.4')
 
   t.strictSame(await readFile('package.json'), {
+    name: 'placeholder',
     dependencies: { abbrev: '^1.0.4' },
   })
 })
diff --git a/test/lib/commands/install.js b/test/lib/commands/install.js
index f40b62edde17c..203df827cb3b0 100644
--- a/test/lib/commands/install.js
+++ b/test/lib/commands/install.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 const t = require('tap')
 const { load: loadMockNpm } = require('../../fixtures/mock-npm')
+const fs = require('node:fs')
+const path = require('node:path')
 
 t.test('exec commands', async t => {
   await t.test('with args, dev=true', async t => {
@@ -9,6 +11,9 @@ t.test('exec commands', async t => {
     let ARB_OBJ = null
 
     const { npm } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
+      prefixDir: {
+        'package.json': '{ "name": "does not matter" }',
+      },
       mocks: {
         '@npmcli/run-script': ({ event }) => {
           SCRIPTS.push(event)
@@ -53,6 +58,9 @@ t.test('exec commands', async t => {
     let ARB_OBJ = null
 
     const { npm } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
+      prefixDir: {
+        'package.json': '{ "name": "does not matter" }',
+      },
       mocks: {
         '@npmcli/run-script': ({ event }) => {
           SCRIPTS.push(event)
@@ -93,6 +101,9 @@ t.test('exec commands', async t => {
     const SCRIPTS = []
     let REIFY_CALLED = false
     const { npm } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
+      prefixDir: {
+        'package.json': '{ "name": "does not matter" }',
+      },
       mocks: {
         '{LIB}/utils/reify-finish.js': async () => {},
         '@npmcli/run-script': ({ event }) => {
@@ -165,6 +176,37 @@ t.test('exec commands', async t => {
     )
   })
 
+  await t.test('should throw when package.json does not exist', async t => {
+    const { npm, prefix } = await loadMockNpm(t, {})
+    await t.rejects(
+      npm.exec('install'),
+      /ENOENT: no such file or directory/,
+      'should throw before reify'
+    )
+    t.notOk(
+      fs.existsSync(path.join(prefix, './package-lock.json')),
+      'should not generate package-lock.json'
+    )
+  })
+
+  await t.test('should throw when package.json is an empty object', async t => {
+    const { npm, prefix } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
+      prefixDir: {
+        'package.json': '{}',
+      },
+    })
+    await t.rejects(
+      npm.exec('install'),
+      /EEMPTYPKGJSON: package.json is empty object/,
+      'should throw before reify'
+    )
+
+    t.notOk(
+      fs.existsSync(path.join(prefix, './package-lock.json')),
+      'should not generate package-lock.json'
+    )
+  })
+
   await t.test('npm i -g npm engines check success', async t => {
     const { npm } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
       mocks: {
diff --git a/test/lib/utils/audit-error.js b/test/lib/utils/audit-error.js
index f6be56a152f71..0b977ba7d64f8 100644
--- a/test/lib/utils/audit-error.js
+++ b/test/lib/utils/audit-error.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ const auditError = async (t, { command, error, ...config } = {}) => {
     command,
     config,
     exec: true,
-    prefixDir: { 'package.json': '{}', 'package-lock.json': '{}' },
+    prefixDir: { 'package.json': '{ "name": "does not matter" }', 'package-lock.json': '{}' },
   })
 
   const res = {}