diff --git a/lib/checkunusedvar.cpp b/lib/checkunusedvar.cpp
index 76371f860..b8b6e2e0d 100644
--- a/lib/checkunusedvar.cpp
+++ b/lib/checkunusedvar.cpp
@@ -1265,6 +1265,11 @@ void CheckUnusedVar::checkStructMemberUsage()
                     used = true;
                     break;
                 }
+                const Function* function = structVarTok->function();
+                if (function && function->retType && function->retType->name() == structname) {
+                    used = true;
+                    break;
+                }
             }
 
             if (!used) {
diff --git a/test/testunusedvar.cpp b/test/testunusedvar.cpp
index b6c5fefc0..5040e8881 100644
--- a/test/testunusedvar.cpp
+++ b/test/testunusedvar.cpp
@@ -250,6 +250,21 @@ private:
                                "    a->a;\n"
                                "}");
         ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:7]: (style) struct member 'B::a' is never used.\n", errout.str());
+
+        checkStructMemberUsage("struct A\n"
+                               "{\n"
+                               "    int a;\n"
+                               "};\n"
+                               "struct B\n"
+                               "{\n"
+                               "    int a;\n"
+                               "};\n"
+                               "A& bar();\n"
+                               "void foo()\n"
+                               "{\n"
+                               "    bar().a;\n"
+                               "}");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:7]: (style) struct member 'B::a' is never used.\n", errout.str());
     }
 
     void structmember2() {