diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
index 707b161f..4b2c654c 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
@@ -1894,7 +1894,8 @@ ostree_sysroot_deployment_unlock (OstreeSysroot     *self,
  * for e.g. older versions of libostree unaware of pinning to GC the deployment.
  *
  * This function does nothing and returns successfully if the deployment
- * is already in the desired pinning state.
+ * is already in the desired pinning state.  It is an error to try to pin
+ * the staged deployment (as it's not in the bootloader entries).
  *
  * Since: 2018.3
  */
@@ -1908,6 +1909,9 @@ ostree_sysroot_deployment_set_pinned (OstreeSysroot     *self,
   if (is_pinned == current_pin)
     return TRUE;
 
+  if (ostree_deployment_is_staged (deployment))
+    return glnx_throw (error, "Cannot pin staged deployment");
+
   g_autoptr(OstreeDeployment) deployment_clone = ostree_deployment_clone (deployment);
   GKeyFile *origin_clone = ostree_deployment_get_origin (deployment_clone);
 
diff --git a/tests/installed/destructive/staged-deploy.yml b/tests/installed/destructive/staged-deploy.yml
index f34550a2..8802fb1b 100644
--- a/tests/installed/destructive/staged-deploy.yml
+++ b/tests/installed/destructive/staged-deploy.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@
     done
     test -f deployment-ref-found
     rm deployment-ref-found
+    if ostree admin pin 0 2>err.txt; then
+      echo "Pinned staged deployment"; exit 1
+    fi
+    grep -qFe 'Cannot pin staged deployment' err.txt
   environment:
     commit: "{{ rpmostree_status['deployments'][0]['checksum'] }}"
 - include_tasks: ../tasks/reboot.yml