diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/deploy/helm/dependencygraph.go b/pkg/skaffold/deploy/helm/dependencygraph.go
index aa0e51fbae9..4f388ae6dfd 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/deploy/helm/dependencygraph.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/deploy/helm/dependencygraph.go
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ func NewDependencyGraph(releases []latest.HelmRelease) (*DependencyGraph, error)
 			if !releaseNames[dep] {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("release %s depends on non-existent release %s", r.Name, dep)
 			}
+			if r.Name == dep {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("release %s cannot depend on itself", r.Name)
+			}
 			hasDependencies = true
 		}
 		graph[r.Name] = r.DependsOn
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/deploy/helm/dependencygraph_test.go b/pkg/skaffold/deploy/helm/dependencygraph_test.go
index 769806bc935..f3da1b0781e 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/deploy/helm/dependencygraph_test.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/deploy/helm/dependencygraph_test.go
@@ -26,10 +26,11 @@ import (
 
 func TestNewDependencyGraph(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
-		description string
-		releases    []latest.HelmRelease
-		expected    map[string][]string
-		shouldErr   bool
+		description  string
+		releases     []latest.HelmRelease
+		expected     map[string][]string
+		shouldErr    bool
+		errorMessage string
 	}{
 		{
 			description: "simple dependency graph",
@@ -73,6 +74,15 @@ func TestNewDependencyGraph(t *testing.T) {
 				{Name: "release2"},
 			},
 			shouldErr: true,
+			errorMessage: "release release1 depends on non-existent release release3",
+		},
+		{
+			description: "dependency on self",
+			releases: []latest.HelmRelease{
+				{Name: "release1", DependsOn: []string{"release1"}},
+			},
+			shouldErr: true,
+			errorMessage: "release release1 cannot depend on itself",
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -81,7 +91,7 @@ func TestNewDependencyGraph(t *testing.T) {
 			graph, err := NewDependencyGraph(test.releases)
 
 			if test.shouldErr {
-				t.CheckError(test.shouldErr, err)
+				t.CheckErrorContains(test.errorMessage, err)
 				return
 			}
 			t.CheckDeepEqual(len(test.expected), len(graph.graph))