diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin/src/rules/no-unnecessary-type-assertion.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin/src/rules/no-unnecessary-type-assertion.ts
index 83c8afe9b78c..4e26d6e20aa2 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin/src/rules/no-unnecessary-type-assertion.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin/src/rules/no-unnecessary-type-assertion.ts
@@ -349,6 +349,13 @@ export default createRule<Options, MessageIds>({
 
           const contextualType = getContextualType(checker, originalNode);
           if (contextualType) {
+            if (
+              isTypeFlagSet(type, ts.TypeFlags.Unknown) &&
+              !isTypeFlagSet(contextualType, ts.TypeFlags.Unknown)
+            ) {
+              return;
+            }
+
             // in strict mode you can't assign null to undefined, so we have to make sure that
             // the two types share a nullable type
             const typeIncludesUndefined = isTypeFlagSet(
diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unnecessary-type-assertion.test.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unnecessary-type-assertion.test.ts
index 1ef1a3dfb371..c28260e79b4a 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unnecessary-type-assertion.test.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unnecessary-type-assertion.test.ts
@@ -416,6 +416,19 @@ enum T {
 const b = 1 as T.Value2;
       `,
     },
+    `
+const foo: unknown = {};
+const baz: {} = foo!;
+    `,
+    `
+const foo: unknown = {};
+const bar: object = foo!;
+    `,
+    `
+declare function foo<T extends unknown>(bar: T): T;
+const baz: unknown = {};
+foo(baz!);
+    `,
   ],
 
   invalid: [
@@ -1335,5 +1348,37 @@ declare const a: T.Value1;
 const b = a;
       `,
     },
+    {
+      code: `
+const foo: unknown = {};
+const bar: unknown = foo!;
+      `,
+      errors: [
+        {
+          messageId: 'contextuallyUnnecessary',
+        },
+      ],
+      output: `
+const foo: unknown = {};
+const bar: unknown = foo;
+      `,
+    },
+    {
+      code: `
+function foo(bar: unknown) {}
+const baz: unknown = {};
+foo(baz!);
+      `,
+      errors: [
+        {
+          messageId: 'contextuallyUnnecessary',
+        },
+      ],
+      output: `
+function foo(bar: unknown) {}
+const baz: unknown = {};
+foo(baz);
+      `,
+    },
   ],
 });