diff --git a/changelog/14638.bugfix.rst b/changelog/14638.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cc07b54b8b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/14638.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Top-level options in ``pytest.toml`` and ``.pytest.toml`` files now raise an error instead of being silently ignored when no ``[pytest]`` table is present.
diff --git a/src/_pytest/config/findpaths.py b/src/_pytest/config/findpaths.py
index e74546c6e28..2a4bed319a9 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/config/findpaths.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/config/findpaths.py
@@ -107,13 +107,21 @@ def load_config_dict_from_file(
 
         # pytest.toml and .pytest.toml use [pytest] table directly.
         if filepath.name in ("pytest.toml", ".pytest.toml"):
-            pytest_config = config.get("pytest", {})
-            if pytest_config:
+            if "pytest" in config:
                 # TOML mode - preserve native TOML types.
                 return {
                     k: ConfigValue(v, origin="file", mode="toml")
-                    for k, v in pytest_config.items()
+                    for k, v in config["pytest"].items()
                 }
+            top_level_options = [
+                key for key, value in config.items() if not isinstance(value, dict)
+            ]
+            if top_level_options:
+                raise UsageError(
+                    f"{filepath}: pytest configuration must be under a "
+                    f"[pytest] table (found top-level options: "
+                    f"{', '.join(top_level_options)})"
+                )
             # "pytest.toml" files are always the source of configuration, even if empty.
             return {}
 
diff --git a/testing/test_config.py b/testing/test_config.py
index 7886610242d..9583c9131fa 100644
--- a/testing/test_config.py
+++ b/testing/test_config.py
@@ -164,6 +164,28 @@ def test_toml_config_names(self, pytester: Pytester, name: str) -> None:
         config = pytester.parseconfig()
         assert config.getini("minversion") == "3.36"
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("name", ["pytest.toml", ".pytest.toml"])
+    def test_toml_config_names_without_section_errors(
+        self, pytester: Pytester, name: str
+    ) -> None:
+        config_path = pytester.path.joinpath(name)
+        config_path.write_text(
+            textwrap.dedent(
+                """
+            minversion = "3.36"
+            addopts = ["-v"]
+        """
+            ),
+            encoding="utf-8",
+        )
+        with pytest.raises(UsageError) as excinfo:
+            pytester.parseconfig()
+        assert str(excinfo.value) == (
+            f"{config_path}: "
+            "pytest configuration must be under a [pytest] table "
+            "(found top-level options: minversion, addopts)"
+        )
+
     def test_pyproject_toml(self, pytester: Pytester) -> None:
         pyproject_toml = pytester.makepyprojecttoml(
             """