diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 09f0666d3..e2ab91db7 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@
 
 * Fixed a test assuming a specific parser error message that recently changed in r-devel (#2527, @IndrajeetPatil).
 
+## New and improved features
+
+### 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).
+
 # lintr 3.1.1
 
 ## Breaking changes
diff --git a/R/unreachable_code_linter.R b/R/unreachable_code_linter.R
index 498ada071..23f7fd7d3 100644
--- a/R/unreachable_code_linter.R
+++ b/R/unreachable_code_linter.R
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ unreachable_code_linter <- function() {
   xpath_return_stop <- glue("
   (
     {expr_after_control}
-    | (//FUNCTION | //OP-LAMBDA)/following-sibling::expr
+    | (//FUNCTION | //OP-LAMBDA)[following-sibling::expr[1]/*[1][self::OP-LEFT-BRACE]]/following-sibling::expr[1]
   )
     /expr[expr[1][
       not(OP-DOLLAR or OP-AT)
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-unreachable_code_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-unreachable_code_linter.R
index 281662b38..b1f434968 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-unreachable_code_linter.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-unreachable_code_linter.R
@@ -597,6 +597,50 @@ test_that("function shorthand is handled", {
   )
 })
 
+test_that("Do not lint inline else after stop", {
+
+  expect_lint(
+    "if (x > 3L) stop() else x + 3",
+    NULL,
+    unreachable_code_linter()
+  )
+})
+
+test_that("Do not lint inline else after stop in inline function", {
+
+  expect_lint(
+    "function(x) if (x > 3L) stop() else x + 3",
+    NULL,
+    unreachable_code_linter()
+  )
+
+  expect_lint(
+    "function(x) if (x > 3L) { stop() } else {x + 3}",
+    NULL,
+    unreachable_code_linter()
+  )
+})
+
+test_that("Do not lint inline else after stop in inline lambda function", {
+  skip_if_not_r_version("4.1.0")
+
+  expect_lint(
+    "\\(x) if (x > 3L) stop() else x + 3",
+    NULL,
+    unreachable_code_linter()
+  )
+})
+
+test_that("Do not lint inline else after stop in lambda function", {
+  skip_if_not_r_version("4.1.0")
+
+  expect_lint(
+    "\\(x){ if (x > 3L) stop() else x + 3 }",
+    NULL,
+    unreachable_code_linter()
+  )
+})
+
 # nolint start: commented_code_linter.
 # TODO(michaelchirico): extend to work on switch() statements
 # test_that("unreachable_code_linter interacts with switch() as expected", {