diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin/src/rules/no-unsafe-return.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin/src/rules/no-unsafe-return.ts
index ef308450bd80..ae959627c09d 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin/src/rules/no-unsafe-return.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin/src/rules/no-unsafe-return.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export default createRule({
       requiresTypeChecking: true,
     },
     messages: {
-      unsafeReturn: 'Unsafe return of an `{{type}}` typed value.',
+      unsafeReturn: 'Unsafe return of an {{type}} typed value.',
       unsafeReturnThis: [
         'Unsafe return of an `{{type}}` typed value. `this` is typed as `any`.',
         'You can try to fix this by turning on the `noImplicitThis` compiler option, or adding a `this` parameter to the function.',
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ export default createRule({
         }
 
         let messageId: 'unsafeReturn' | 'unsafeReturnThis' = 'unsafeReturn';
+        const isErrorType = tsutils.isIntrinsicErrorType(returnNodeType);
 
         if (!isNoImplicitThis) {
           // `return this`
@@ -156,7 +157,11 @@ export default createRule({
           node: reportingNode,
           messageId,
           data: {
-            type: anyType === AnyType.Any ? 'any' : 'any[]',
+            type: isErrorType
+              ? 'error'
+              : anyType === AnyType.Any
+                ? '`any`'
+                : '`any[]`',
           },
         });
       }
diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unsafe-return.test.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unsafe-return.test.ts
index 36c6103bbc20..dc5e1df369d6 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unsafe-return.test.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unsafe-return.test.ts
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ function foo() {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any',
+            type: '`any`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ function foo() {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any',
+            type: '`any`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ const foo = () => {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any',
+            type: '`any`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ const foo = () => {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any',
+            type: '`any`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ function foo() {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any[]',
+            type: '`any[]`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ function foo() {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any[]',
+            type: '`any[]`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ function foo() {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any[]',
+            type: '`any[]`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ function foo() {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any[]',
+            type: '`any[]`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ const foo = () => {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any[]',
+            type: '`any[]`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ const foo = () => {
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
           data: {
-            type: 'any[]',
+            type: '`any[]`',
           },
         },
       ],
@@ -407,12 +407,18 @@ function bar() {
           line: 3,
           column: 3,
           endColumn: 15,
+          data: {
+            type: '`any`',
+          },
         },
         {
           messageId: 'unsafeReturnThis',
           line: 7,
           column: 16,
           endColumn: 20,
+          data: {
+            type: '`any`',
+          },
         },
       ],
     },
@@ -427,6 +433,29 @@ foo(() => 'foo' as any);
           line: 3,
           column: 11,
           endColumn: 23,
+          data: {
+            type: '`any`',
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      code: `
+let value: NotKnown;
+
+function example() {
+  return value;
+}
+      `,
+      errors: [
+        {
+          messageId: 'unsafeReturn',
+          line: 5,
+          column: 3,
+          endColumn: 16,
+          data: {
+            type: 'error',
+          },
         },
       ],
     },