diff --git a/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unused-vars/no-unused-vars.test.ts b/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unused-vars/no-unused-vars.test.ts
index ea2eb03d733..eaf59a48571 100644
--- a/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unused-vars/no-unused-vars.test.ts
+++ b/packages/eslint-plugin/tests/rules/no-unused-vars/no-unused-vars.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import rule from '../../../src/rules/no-unused-vars';
 import { collectUnusedVariables } from '../../../src/util';
-import { noFormat, RuleTester } from '../../RuleTester';
+import { getFixturesRootDir, noFormat, RuleTester } from '../../RuleTester';
 
 const ruleTester = new RuleTester({
   parserOptions: {
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ const ruleTester = new RuleTester({
   parser: '@typescript-eslint/parser',
 });
 
+const withMetaParserOptions = {
+  tsconfigRootDir: getFixturesRootDir(),
+  project: './tsconfig-withmeta.json',
+};
+
 // this is used to ensure that the caching the utility does does not impact the results done by no-unused-vars
 ruleTester.defineRule('collect-unused-vars', context => {
   collectUnusedVariables(context);
@@ -978,6 +983,19 @@ declare module 'next-auth' {
   }
 }
     `,
+    // https://github.com/typescript-eslint/typescript-eslint/issues/2972
+    {
+      code: `
+import { TestGeneric, Test } from 'fake-module';
+
+declare function deco(..._param: any): any;
+export class TestClass {
+  @deco
+  public test(): TestGeneric<Test> {}
+}
+      `,
+      parserOptions: withMetaParserOptions,
+    },
   ],
 
   invalid: [
diff --git a/packages/scope-manager/src/referencer/ClassVisitor.ts b/packages/scope-manager/src/referencer/ClassVisitor.ts
index 9f9315fa411..fff57583191 100644
--- a/packages/scope-manager/src/referencer/ClassVisitor.ts
+++ b/packages/scope-manager/src/referencer/ClassVisitor.ts
@@ -295,9 +295,14 @@ class ClassVisitor extends Visitor {
       }
 
       if (withDecorators) {
-        return this.#referencer
-          .currentScope()
-          .referenceDualValueType(identifier);
+        this.#referencer.currentScope().referenceDualValueType(identifier);
+
+        if (node.typeAnnotation.typeParameters) {
+          this.visitType(node.typeAnnotation.typeParameters);
+        }
+
+        // everything is handled now
+        return;
       }
     }
     this.visitType(node);
diff --git a/packages/scope-manager/tests/fixtures/class/emit-metadata/method-return-generic.ts b/packages/scope-manager/tests/fixtures/class/emit-metadata/method-return-generic.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ea8c1a53790
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/scope-manager/tests/fixtures/class/emit-metadata/method-return-generic.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+//// @emitDecoratorMetadata = true
+
+import { TestGeneric, Test } from 'fake-module';
+
+declare function deco(..._param: any): any;
+export class TestClass {
+  @deco
+  public test(): TestGeneric<Test> {}
+}
diff --git a/packages/scope-manager/tests/fixtures/class/emit-metadata/method-return-generic.ts.shot b/packages/scope-manager/tests/fixtures/class/emit-metadata/method-return-generic.ts.shot
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..64e13471b5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/scope-manager/tests/fixtures/class/emit-metadata/method-return-generic.ts.shot
@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
+// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
+
+exports[`class emit-metadata method-return-generic 1`] = `
+ScopeManager {
+  variables: Array [
+    ImplicitGlobalConstTypeVariable,
+    Variable$2 {
+      defs: Array [
+        ImportBindingDefinition$1 {
+          name: Identifier<"TestGeneric">,
+          node: ImportSpecifier$1,
+        },
+      ],
+      name: "TestGeneric",
+      references: Array [
+        Reference$1 {
+          identifier: Identifier<"TestGeneric">,
+          isRead: true,
+          isTypeReference: true,
+          isValueReference: true,
+          isWrite: false,
+          resolved: Variable$2,
+        },
+      ],
+      isValueVariable: true,
+      isTypeVariable: true,
+    },
+    Variable$3 {
+      defs: Array [
+        ImportBindingDefinition$2 {
+          name: Identifier<"Test">,
+          node: ImportSpecifier$2,
+        },
+      ],
+      name: "Test",
+      references: Array [
+        Reference$2 {
+          identifier: Identifier<"Test">,
+          isRead: true,
+          isTypeReference: true,
+          isValueReference: false,
+          isWrite: false,
+          resolved: Variable$3,
+        },
+      ],
+      isValueVariable: true,
+      isTypeVariable: true,
+    },
+    Variable$4 {
+      defs: Array [
+        FunctionNameDefinition$3 {
+          name: Identifier<"deco">,
+          node: TSDeclareFunction$3,
+        },
+      ],
+      name: "deco",
+      references: Array [
+        Reference$3 {
+          identifier: Identifier<"deco">,
+          isRead: true,
+          isTypeReference: false,
+          isValueReference: true,
+          isWrite: false,
+          resolved: Variable$4,
+        },
+      ],
+      isValueVariable: true,
+      isTypeVariable: false,
+    },
+    Variable$5 {
+      defs: Array [],
+      name: "arguments",
+      references: Array [],
+      isValueVariable: true,
+      isTypeVariable: true,
+    },
+    Variable$6 {
+      defs: Array [
+        ParameterDefinition$4 {
+          name: Identifier<"_param">,
+          node: TSDeclareFunction$3,
+        },
+      ],
+      name: "_param",
+      references: Array [],
+      isValueVariable: true,
+      isTypeVariable: false,
+    },
+    Variable$7 {
+      defs: Array [
+        ClassNameDefinition$5 {
+          name: Identifier<"TestClass">,
+          node: ClassDeclaration$4,
+        },
+      ],
+      name: "TestClass",
+      references: Array [],
+      isValueVariable: true,
+      isTypeVariable: true,
+    },
+    Variable$8 {
+      defs: Array [
+        ClassNameDefinition$6 {
+          name: Identifier<"TestClass">,
+          node: ClassDeclaration$4,
+        },
+      ],
+      name: "TestClass",
+      references: Array [],
+      isValueVariable: true,
+      isTypeVariable: true,
+    },
+    Variable$9 {
+      defs: Array [],
+      name: "arguments",
+      references: Array [],
+      isValueVariable: true,
+      isTypeVariable: true,
+    },
+  ],
+  scopes: Array [
+    GlobalScope$1 {
+      block: Program$5,
+      isStrict: false,
+      references: Array [],
+      set: Map {
+        "const" => ImplicitGlobalConstTypeVariable,
+        "TestGeneric" => Variable$2,
+        "Test" => Variable$3,
+        "deco" => Variable$4,
+        "TestClass" => Variable$7,
+      },
+      type: "global",
+      upper: null,
+      variables: Array [
+        ImplicitGlobalConstTypeVariable,
+        Variable$2,
+        Variable$3,
+        Variable$4,
+        Variable$7,
+      ],
+    },
+    FunctionScope$2 {
+      block: TSDeclareFunction$3,
+      isStrict: false,
+      references: Array [],
+      set: Map {
+        "arguments" => Variable$5,
+        "_param" => Variable$6,
+      },
+      type: "function",
+      upper: GlobalScope$1,
+      variables: Array [
+        Variable$5,
+        Variable$6,
+      ],
+    },
+    ClassScope$3 {
+      block: ClassDeclaration$4,
+      isStrict: true,
+      references: Array [
+        Reference$3,
+      ],
+      set: Map {
+        "TestClass" => Variable$8,
+      },
+      type: "class",
+      upper: GlobalScope$1,
+      variables: Array [
+        Variable$8,
+      ],
+    },
+    FunctionScope$4 {
+      block: FunctionExpression$6,
+      isStrict: true,
+      references: Array [
+        Reference$1,
+        Reference$2,
+      ],
+      set: Map {
+        "arguments" => Variable$9,
+      },
+      type: "function",
+      upper: ClassScope$3,
+      variables: Array [
+        Variable$9,
+      ],
+    },
+  ],
+}
+`;