diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 1680bb9b3..ee042c597 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 ### Lint accuracy fixes: removing false positives
 
 * `unreachable_code_linter()` ignores reachable code in inline functions like `function(x) if (x > 2) stop() else x` (#2259, @MEO265).
+* `unnecessary_lambda_linter()` ignores extractions with explicit returns like `lapply(l, function(x) foo(x)$bar)` (#2258, @MichaelChirico).
 
 # lintr 3.1.1
 
diff --git a/R/unnecessary_lambda_linter.R b/R/unnecessary_lambda_linter.R
index d57617769..abbd856fb 100644
--- a/R/unnecessary_lambda_linter.R
+++ b/R/unnecessary_lambda_linter.R
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ unnecessary_lambda_linter <- function() {
   #     c. that call's _first_ argument is just the function argument (a SYMBOL)
   #       - and it has to be passed positionally (not as a keyword)
   #     d. the function argument doesn't appear elsewhere in the call
-  # TODO(#1703): handle explicit returns too: function(x) return(x)
   default_fun_xpath <- glue("
   //SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL[ {apply_funs} ]
     /parent::expr
@@ -76,8 +75,8 @@ unnecessary_lambda_linter <- function() {
           position() = 2
           and preceding-sibling::expr/SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL
           and not(preceding-sibling::*[1][self::EQ_SUB])
+          and not(parent::expr/following-sibling::*[not(self::OP-RIGHT-PAREN or self::OP-RIGHT-BRACE)])
         ]/SYMBOL
-      and count(OP-LEFT-PAREN) + count(OP-LEFT-BRACE/following-sibling::expr/OP-LEFT-PAREN) = 1
     ]
     /parent::expr
   ")
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-unnecessary_lambda_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-unnecessary_lambda_linter.R
index 5032f6fec..b3649439d 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-unnecessary_lambda_linter.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-unnecessary_lambda_linter.R
@@ -50,6 +50,12 @@ test_that("unnecessary_lambda_linter skips allowed usages", {
   expect_lint('lapply(l, function(x) rle(x)[["values"]])', NULL, linter)
   expect_lint("lapply(l, function(x) rle(x)@values)", NULL, linter)
 
+  # return() extractions, #2258
+  expect_lint("lapply(l, function(x) return(foo(x)$bar))", NULL, linter)
+  expect_lint('lapply(l, function(x) return(rle(x)["values"]))', NULL, linter)
+  expect_lint('lapply(l, function(x) return(rle(x)[["values"]]))', NULL, linter)
+  expect_lint("lapply(l, function(x) return(rle(x)@values))", NULL, linter)
+
   # Other operators, #2247
   expect_lint("lapply(l, function(x) foo(x) - 1)", NULL, linter)
   expect_lint("lapply(l, function(x) foo(x) * 2)", NULL, linter)