diff --git a/src/cli.zig b/src/cli.zig
index 924d497ff0..eaec4e593b 100644
--- a/src/cli.zig
+++ b/src/cli.zig
@@ -1521,14 +1521,9 @@ pub const Command = struct {
                     }
                     break :brk false;
                 };
-                if (print_help) {
-                    Command.Tag.printHelp(.CreateCommand, true);
-                    Global.exit(0);
-                    return;
-                }
 
                 var template_name_start: usize = 0;
-                var positionals: [2]string = undefined;
+                var positionals: [2]string = .{ "", "" };
 
                 var positional_i: usize = 0;
 
@@ -1547,6 +1542,16 @@ pub const Command = struct {
                     }
                 }
 
+                if (print_help or
+                    // "bun create --"
+                    // "bun create -abc --"
+                    positional_i == 0)
+                {
+                    Command.Tag.printHelp(.CreateCommand, true);
+                    Global.exit(0);
+                    return;
+                }
+
                 const template_name = positionals[0];
 
                 // if template_name is "react"
diff --git a/test/cli/install/bun-create.test.ts b/test/cli/install/bun-create.test.ts
index 660077db52..97ecb89714 100644
--- a/test/cli/install/bun-create.test.ts
+++ b/test/cli/install/bun-create.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import { spawn } from "bun";
-import { afterEach, beforeEach, expect, it } from "bun:test";
+import { spawn, spawnSync } from "bun";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, expect, it, describe } from "bun:test";
 import { bunExe, bunEnv as env } from "harness";
 import { mkdtemp, realpath, rm, mkdir, stat } from "fs/promises";
 import { tmpdir } from "os";
@@ -14,6 +14,28 @@ afterEach(async () => {
   await rm(x_dir, { force: true, recursive: true });
 });
 
+describe("should not crash", async () => {
+  const args = [
+    [bunExe(), "create", ""],
+    [bunExe(), "create", "--"],
+    [bunExe(), "create", "--", ""],
+    [bunExe(), "create", "--help"],
+  ];
+  for (let cmd of args) {
+    it(JSON.stringify(cmd.slice(1).join(" ")), () => {
+      const { exitCode } = spawnSync({
+        cmd,
+        cwd: x_dir,
+        stdout: "ignore",
+        stdin: "inherit",
+        stderr: "inherit",
+        env,
+      });
+      expect(exitCode).toBe(cmd.length === 3 && cmd.at(-1) === "" ? 1 : 0);
+    });
+  }
+});
+
 it("should create selected template with @ prefix", async () => {
   const { stderr } = spawn({
     cmd: [bunExe(), "create", "@quick-start/some-template"],