diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3b6abbd72f..270be32916 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ### Fixed bugs
 
+* Error on `trunk()` revset resolution is now handled gracefully.
+  [#4616](https://github.com/martinvonz/jj/issues/4616)
 
 ## [0.22.0] - 2024-10-02
 
diff --git a/cli/src/cli_util.rs b/cli/src/cli_util.rs
index d93665404e..011b655792 100644
--- a/cli/src/cli_util.rs
+++ b/cli/src/cli_util.rs
@@ -382,6 +382,7 @@ impl CommandHelper {
         let op_head = self.resolve_operation(ui, workspace.repo_loader())?;
         let repo = workspace.repo_loader().load_at(&op_head)?;
         let env = self.workspace_environment(ui, &workspace)?;
+        revset_util::warn_unresolvable_trunk(ui, repo.as_ref(), &env.revset_parse_context())?;
         WorkspaceCommandHelper::new(ui, workspace, repo, env, self.is_at_head_operation())
     }
 
diff --git a/cli/src/config-schema.json b/cli/src/config-schema.json
index b3faa02d78..bcb2631437 100644
--- a/cli/src/config-schema.json
+++ b/cli/src/config-schema.json
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@
                 "log": {
                     "type": "string",
                     "description": "Default set of revisions to show when no explicit revset is given for jj log and similar commands",
-                    "default": "present(@) | ancestors(immutable_heads().., 2) | trunk()"
+                    "default": "present(@) | ancestors(immutable_heads().., 2) | present(trunk())"
                 },
                 "short-prefixes": {
                     "type": "string",
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@
                 "immutable_heads()": {
                     "type": "string",
                     "description": "Revisions to consider immutable. Ancestors of these are also considered immutable. The root commit is always considered immutable.",
-                    "default": "trunk() | tags() | untracked_remote_branches()"
+                    "default": "present(trunk()) | tags() | untracked_remote_branches()"
                 }
             },
             "additionalProperties": {
diff --git a/cli/src/config/revsets.toml b/cli/src/config/revsets.toml
index b07b3cdfbf..e036670dcb 100644
--- a/cli/src/config/revsets.toml
+++ b/cli/src/config/revsets.toml
@@ -3,9 +3,14 @@
 
 [revsets]
 fix = "reachable(@, mutable())"
-log = "present(@) | ancestors(immutable_heads().., 2) | trunk()"
+# log revset is also used as the default short-prefixes. If it failed to
+# evaluate, lengthy warning messages would be printed. Use present(expr) to
+# suppress symbol resolution error.
+log = "present(@) | ancestors(immutable_heads().., 2) | present(trunk())"
 
 [revset-aliases]
+# trunk() can be overridden as '<bookmark>@<remote>'. Use present(trunk()) if
+# symbol resolution error should be suppressed.
 'trunk()' = '''
 latest(
   remote_bookmarks(exact:"main", exact:"origin") | 
@@ -18,7 +23,9 @@ latest(
 )
 '''
 
-'builtin_immutable_heads()' = 'trunk() | tags() | untracked_remote_bookmarks()'
+# If immutable_heads() failed to evaluate, many jj commands wouldn't work. Use
+# present(expr) to suppress symbol resolution error.
+'builtin_immutable_heads()' = 'present(trunk()) | tags() | untracked_remote_bookmarks()'
 'immutable_heads()' = 'builtin_immutable_heads()'
 'immutable()' = '::(immutable_heads() | root())'
 'mutable()' = '~immutable()'
diff --git a/cli/src/revset_util.rs b/cli/src/revset_util.rs
index cdfe140e83..9391bc4e0e 100644
--- a/cli/src/revset_util.rs
+++ b/cli/src/revset_util.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 //! Utility for parsing and evaluating user-provided revset expressions.
 
+use std::io;
 use std::rc::Rc;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -213,6 +214,37 @@ pub fn parse_immutable_heads_expression(
     Ok(heads.union(&RevsetExpression::root()))
 }
 
+/// Prints warning if `trunk()` alias cannot be resolved. This alias could be
+/// generated by `jj git init`/`clone`.
+pub(super) fn warn_unresolvable_trunk(
+    ui: &Ui,
+    repo: &dyn Repo,
+    context: &RevsetParseContext,
+) -> io::Result<()> {
+    let (_, _, revset_str) = context
+        .aliases_map()
+        .get_function("trunk", 0)
+        .expect("trunk() should be defined by default");
+    let Ok(expression) = revset::parse(&mut RevsetDiagnostics::new(), revset_str, context) else {
+        // Parse error would have been reported.
+        return Ok(());
+    };
+    // Not using IdPrefixContext since trunk() revset shouldn't contain short
+    // prefixes.
+    let symbol_resolver = DefaultSymbolResolver::new(repo, context.symbol_resolvers());
+    if let Err(err) = expression.resolve_user_expression(repo, &symbol_resolver) {
+        writeln!(
+            ui.warning_default(),
+            "Failed to resolve `revset-aliases.trunk()`: {err}"
+        )?;
+        writeln!(
+            ui.hint_default(),
+            "Use `jj config edit --repo` to adjust the `trunk()` alias."
+        )?;
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 pub(super) fn evaluate_revset_to_single_commit<'a>(
     revision_str: &str,
     expression: &RevsetExpressionEvaluator<'_>,
diff --git a/cli/tests/test_git_clone.rs b/cli/tests/test_git_clone.rs
index a9022346b2..0ce982e47b 100644
--- a/cli/tests/test_git_clone.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/test_git_clone.rs
@@ -522,6 +522,41 @@ fn test_git_clone_with_remote_name() {
     "#);
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_git_clone_trunk_deleted() {
+    let test_env = TestEnvironment::default();
+    let git_repo_path = test_env.env_root().join("source");
+    let git_repo = git2::Repository::init(git_repo_path).unwrap();
+    set_up_non_empty_git_repo(&git_repo);
+    let clone_path = test_env.env_root().join("clone");
+
+    let (stdout, stderr) =
+        test_env.jj_cmd_ok(test_env.env_root(), &["git", "clone", "source", "clone"]);
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(stdout, @"");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(stderr, @r#"
+    Fetching into new repo in "$TEST_ENV/clone"
+    bookmark: main@origin [new] untracked
+    Setting the revset alias "trunk()" to "main@origin"
+    Working copy now at: sqpuoqvx cad212e1 (empty) (no description set)
+    Parent commit      : mzyxwzks 9f01a0e0 main | message
+    Added 1 files, modified 0 files, removed 0 files
+    "#);
+
+    test_env.jj_cmd_ok(&clone_path, &["bookmark", "forget", "main"]);
+    let (stdout, stderr) = test_env.jj_cmd_ok(&clone_path, &["log"]);
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(stdout, @r#"
+    @  sqpuoqvx test.user@example.com 2001-02-03 08:05:07 cad212e1
+    │  (empty) (no description set)
+    ○  mzyxwzks some.one@example.com 1970-01-01 11:00:00 9f01a0e0
+    │  message
+    ◆  zzzzzzzz root() 00000000
+    "#);
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(stderr, @r#"
+    Warning: Failed to resolve `revset-aliases.trunk()`: Revision "main@origin" doesn't exist
+    Hint: Use `jj config edit --repo` to adjust the `trunk()` alias.
+    "#);
+}
+
 fn get_bookmark_output(test_env: &TestEnvironment, repo_path: &Path) -> String {
     test_env.jj_cmd_success(repo_path, &["bookmark", "list", "--all-remotes"])
 }
diff --git a/cli/tests/test_operations.rs b/cli/tests/test_operations.rs
index cdfd0019d4..793f6fb0be 100644
--- a/cli/tests/test_operations.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/test_operations.rs
@@ -789,10 +789,6 @@ fn test_op_diff() {
     test_env.jj_cmd_ok(test_env.env_root(), &["git", "clone", "git-repo", "repo"]);
     let repo_path = test_env.env_root().join("repo");
 
-    // Suppress warning in the commit summary template. The configured "trunk()"
-    // can't be found in earlier operations.
-    test_env.add_config("template-aliases.'format_short_id(id)' = 'id.short(8)'");
-
     // Overview of op log.
     let stdout = test_env.jj_cmd_success(&repo_path, &["op", "log"]);
     insta::assert_snapshot!(&stdout, @r#"
@@ -1586,10 +1582,6 @@ fn test_op_show() {
     test_env.jj_cmd_ok(test_env.env_root(), &["git", "clone", "git-repo", "repo"]);
     let repo_path = test_env.env_root().join("repo");
 
-    // Suppress warning in the commit summary template. The configured "trunk()"
-    // can't be found in earlier operations.
-    test_env.add_config("template-aliases.'format_short_id(id)' = 'id.short(8)'");
-
     // Overview of op log.
     let stdout = test_env.jj_cmd_success(&repo_path, &["op", "log"]);
     insta::assert_snapshot!(&stdout, @r#"
diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index c1cf2155eb..e4fa406613 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -266,8 +266,8 @@ diff-invocation-mode = "file-by-file"
 
 You can configure the set of immutable commits via
 `revset-aliases."immutable_heads()"`. The default set of immutable heads is
-`trunk() | tags() | untracked_remote_bookmarks()`. For example, to prevent
-rewriting commits on `main@origin` and commits authored by other users:
+`present(trunk()) | tags() | untracked_remote_bookmarks()`. For example, to
+prevent rewriting commits on `main@origin` and commits authored by other users:
 
 ```toml
 # The `main.. &` bit is an optimization to scan for non-`mine()` commits only
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ revsets.log = "main@origin.."
 ```
 
 The default value for `revsets.log` is
-`'present(@) | ancestors(immutable_heads().., 2) | trunk()'`.
+`'present(@) | ancestors(immutable_heads().., 2) | present(trunk())'`.
 
 ### Graph style
 
diff --git a/docs/revsets.md b/docs/revsets.md
index efd2c2d98d..bb9e900468 100644
--- a/docs/revsets.md
+++ b/docs/revsets.md
@@ -429,15 +429,15 @@ for a comprehensive list.
   'trunk()' = 'your-bookmark@your-remote'
   ```
 
-* `builtin_immutable_heads()`: Resolves to `trunk() | tags() | untracked_remote_bookmarks()`.
-   It is used as the default definition for `immutable_heads()` below. it is not
-   recommended to redefined this alias. Prefer to redefine `immutable_heads()`
-   instead.
-
-* `immutable_heads()`: Resolves to `trunk() | tags() | untracked_remote_bookmarks()`
-  by default. It is actually defined as `builtin_immutable_heads()`, and can be
-  overridden as required. See [here](config.md#set-of-immutable-commits) for
-  details.
+* `builtin_immutable_heads()`: Resolves to
+  `present(trunk()) | tags() | untracked_remote_bookmarks()`. It is used as the
+   default definition for `immutable_heads()` below. it is not recommended to
+   redefined this alias. Prefer to redefine `immutable_heads()` instead.
+
+* `immutable_heads()`: Resolves to
+  `present(trunk()) | tags() | untracked_remote_bookmarks()` by default. It is
+  actually defined as `builtin_immutable_heads()`, and can be overridden as
+  required. See [here](config.md#set-of-immutable-commits) for details.
 
 * `immutable()`: The set of commits that `jj` treats as immutable. This is
   equivalent to `::(immutable_heads() | root())`. It is not recommended to redefine