diff --git a/lib/checkclass.cpp b/lib/checkclass.cpp
index 1a42f8ab820..cbf21898579 100644
--- a/lib/checkclass.cpp
+++ b/lib/checkclass.cpp
@@ -3327,6 +3327,8 @@ void CheckClass::checkReturnByReference()
         for (const Function& func : classScope->functionList) {
             if (Function::returnsPointer(&func) || Function::returnsReference(&func) || Function::returnsStandardType(&func))
                 continue;
+            if (func.isImplicitlyVirtual())
+                continue;
             if (const Variable* var = getSingleReturnVar(func.functionScope)) {
                 if (!var->valueType())
                     continue;