diff --git a/lib/checkunusedvar.cpp b/lib/checkunusedvar.cpp
index ba9168e02..53b6a8106 100644
--- a/lib/checkunusedvar.cpp
+++ b/lib/checkunusedvar.cpp
@@ -1118,8 +1118,11 @@ void CheckUnusedVar::checkFunctionVariableUsage()
                     tok = eq;
                 }
             }
-            // not assignment/initialization => continue
-            if ((!tok->isAssignmentOp() || !tok->astOperand1()) && !(Token::Match(tok, "%var% (") && tok->variable() && tok->variable()->nameToken() == tok))
+            // not assignment/initialization/increment => continue
+            const bool isAssignment = tok->isAssignmentOp() && tok->astOperand1();
+            const bool isInitialization = (Token::Match(tok, "%var% (") && tok->variable() && tok->variable()->nameToken() == tok);
+            const bool isIncrementOrDecrement = (tok->tokType() == Token::Type::eIncDecOp);
+            if (!isAssignment && !isInitialization && !isIncrementOrDecrement)
                 continue;
             if (tok->isName()) {
                 if (mTokenizer->isCPP()) {
diff --git a/test/testunusedvar.cpp b/test/testunusedvar.cpp
index c8653e753..274bda174 100644
--- a/test/testunusedvar.cpp
+++ b/test/testunusedvar.cpp
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ private:
         TEST_CASE(localvar4);
         TEST_CASE(localvar5);
         TEST_CASE(localvar6);
-        TEST_CASE(localvar7);
         TEST_CASE(localvar8);
         TEST_CASE(localvar9); // ticket #1605
         TEST_CASE(localvar10);
@@ -111,6 +110,7 @@ private:
         TEST_CASE(localvar54); // ast, {}
         TEST_CASE(localvar55);
         TEST_CASE(localvar56);
+        TEST_CASE(localvar57); // #8974 - increment
         TEST_CASE(localvarloops); // loops
         TEST_CASE(localvaralias1);
         TEST_CASE(localvaralias2); // ticket #1637
@@ -1162,33 +1162,6 @@ private:
         // TODO ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:6]: (style) Variable 'b' is assigned a value that is never used.\n", errout.str());
     }
 
-    void localvar7() { // ticket 1253
-        functionVariableUsage("void foo()\n"
-                              "{\n"
-                              "    int i;\n"
-                              "    i--;\n"
-                              "}");
-        ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:3]: (style) Variable 'i' is not assigned a value.\n", errout.str());
-
-        functionVariableUsage("void foo()\n"
-                              "{\n"
-                              "    int i;\n"
-                              "    int &ii(i);\n"
-                              "    ii--;\n"
-                              "}");
-        // TODO ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:3]: (style) Variable 'i' is not assigned a value.\n"
-        // TODO               "[test.cpp:5]: (style) Variable 'ii' is modified but its new value is never used.\n", errout.str());
-
-        functionVariableUsage("void foo()\n"
-                              "{\n"
-                              "    int i;\n"
-                              "    int &ii=i;\n"
-                              "    ii--;\n"
-                              "}");
-        // TODO ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:3]: (style) Variable 'i' is not assigned a value.\n"
-        // TODO               "[test.cpp:5]: (style) Variable 'ii' is modified but its new value is never used.\n", errout.str());
-    }
-
     void localvar8() {
         functionVariableUsage("void foo()\n"
                               "{\n"
@@ -2158,6 +2131,15 @@ private:
         ASSERT_EQUALS("", errout.str());
     }
 
+    void localvar57() {
+        functionVariableUsage("void f()\n"
+                              "{\n"
+                              "    int x = 0;\n"
+                              "    x++;\n"
+                              "}");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:4]: (style) Variable 'x' is assigned a value that is never used.\n", errout.str());
+    }
+
     void localvarloops() {
         // loops
         functionVariableUsage("void fun() {\n"