diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apply/apply.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apply/apply.go
index b9b34f62596..553d2cf3c2c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apply/apply.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apply/apply.go
@@ -399,6 +399,14 @@ func (o *ApplyOptions) applyOneObject(info *resource.Info) error {
 		klog.V(4).Infof("error recording current command: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	if len(info.Name) == 0 {
+		metadata, _ := meta.Accessor(info.Object)
+		generatedName := metadata.GetGenerateName()
+		if len(generatedName) > 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("from %s: cannot use generate name with apply", generatedName)
+		}
+	}
+
 	helper := resource.NewHelper(info.Client, info.Mapping).
 		DryRun(o.DryRunStrategy == cmdutil.DryRunServer).
 		WithFieldManager(o.FieldManager)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apply/apply_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apply/apply_test.go
index df3f64fa119..ca910582065 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apply/apply_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apply/apply_test.go
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ const (
 	filenameRCPatchTest       = "../../../testdata/apply/patch.json"
 	dirName                   = "../../../testdata/apply/testdir"
 	filenameRCJSON            = "../../../testdata/apply/rc.json"
+	filenamePodGeneratedName  = "../../../testdata/apply/pod-generated-name.yaml"
 
 	filenameWidgetClientside    = "../../../testdata/apply/widget-clientside.yaml"
 	filenameWidgetServerside    = "../../../testdata/apply/widget-serverside.yaml"
@@ -1410,3 +1411,22 @@ func TestDontAllowForceApplyWithServerDryRun(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Fatalf(`expected error "%s"`, expectedError)
 }
+
+func TestDontAllowApplyWithPodGeneratedName(t *testing.T) {
+	expectedError := "error: from testing-: cannot use generate name with apply"
+	cmdutil.BehaviorOnFatal(func(str string, code int) {
+		if str != expectedError {
+			t.Fatalf(`expected error "%s", but got "%s"`, expectedError, str)
+		}
+	})
+
+	tf := cmdtesting.NewTestFactory().WithNamespace("test")
+	defer tf.Cleanup()
+	tf.ClientConfigVal = cmdtesting.DefaultClientConfig()
+
+	ioStreams, _, _, _ := genericclioptions.NewTestIOStreams()
+	cmd := NewCmdApply("kubectl", tf, ioStreams)
+	cmd.Flags().Set("filename", filenamePodGeneratedName)
+	cmd.Flags().Set("dry-run", "client")
+	cmd.Run(cmd, []string{})
+}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/testdata/apply/pod-generated-name.yaml b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/testdata/apply/pod-generated-name.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..35ff7aff473
--- /dev/null
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/testdata/apply/pod-generated-name.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+kind: Pod
+apiVersion: v1
+metadata:
+  generateName: testing-
+spec:
+  containers:
+  - image: nginx
+    name: nginx