diff --git a/pkg/gui/branches_panel.go b/pkg/gui/branches_panel.go
index cd3bd695e..3e2ffc675 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/branches_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/branches_panel.go
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleNewBranchOffCurrentItem() error {
 		title:          message,
 		initialContent: prefilledName,
 		handleConfirm: func(response string) error {
-			if err := gui.GitCommand.NewBranch(response, item.ID()); err != nil {
+			if err := gui.GitCommand.NewBranch(sanitizedBranchName(response), item.ID()); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 
@@ -533,7 +533,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) getBranchNames() []string {
 func (gui *Gui) findBranchNameSuggestions(input string) []*types.Suggestion {
 	branchNames := gui.getBranchNames()
 
-	matchingBranchNames := utils.FuzzySearch(input, branchNames)
+	matchingBranchNames := utils.FuzzySearch(sanitizedBranchName(input), branchNames)
 
 	suggestions := make([]*types.Suggestion, len(matchingBranchNames))
 	for i, branchName := range matchingBranchNames {
@@ -545,3 +545,9 @@ func (gui *Gui) findBranchNameSuggestions(input string) []*types.Suggestion {
 
 	return suggestions
 }
+
+// sanitizedBranchName will remove all spaces in favor of a dash "-" to meet
+// git's branch naming requirement.
+func sanitizedBranchName(input string) string {
+	return strings.ReplaceAll(input, " ", "-")
+}