diff --git a/pins/boards.py b/pins/boards.py
index c1eeb2f2..6d47d3b4 100644
--- a/pins/boards.py
+++ b/pins/boards.py
@@ -392,6 +392,9 @@ def pin_write(
                 "Use .pin_upload() to save a file as a pin."
             )
 
+        if name is None:
+            raise ValueError("Pin name must be provided when writing a pin.")
+
         return self._pin_store(
             x,
             name,
diff --git a/pins/tests/test_boards.py b/pins/tests/test_boards.py
index ee22bd3d..30d40ee2 100644
--- a/pins/tests/test_boards.py
+++ b/pins/tests/test_boards.py
@@ -179,6 +179,17 @@ def test_board_pin_write_force_identical_write_msg(
     assert len(versions) == 1
 
 
+@skip_if_dbc
+def test_board_pin_write_no_name(board, tmp_path):
+    df = pd.DataFrame({"x": [1, 2, 3]})
+
+    path = tmp_path.joinpath("data.csv")
+    df.to_csv(path, index=False)
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r"Pin name must be provided"):
+        board.pin_write(path)
+
+
 @skip_if_dbc
 def test_board_pin_download(board_with_cache, tmp_path):
     # create and save data