diff --git a/packages/cli/src/utils/jsDocUtils.ts b/packages/cli/src/utils/jsDocUtils.ts
index dc85658ad..51a8c2fd5 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/utils/jsDocUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/utils/jsDocUtils.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export function getJSDocTagNames(node: ts.Node, requireTagName = false) {
     tags = getJSDocTags(node.parent as any, tag => {
       if (ts.isJSDocParameterTag(tag)) {
         return false;
-      } else if (tag.comment === undefined) {
+      } else if (tag.comment === undefined && !ts.isJSDocReturnTag(tag)) {
         throw new GenerateMetadataError(`Orphan tag: @${String(tag.tagName.text || tag.tagName.escapedText)} should have a parameter name follows with.`);
       }
 
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/controllers/controllerWithJsDocResponseDescription.ts b/tests/fixtures/controllers/controllerWithJsDocResponseDescription.ts
index 6c74e0aad..4e9d6c658 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/controllers/controllerWithJsDocResponseDescription.ts
+++ b/tests/fixtures/controllers/controllerWithJsDocResponseDescription.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Controller, Get, Route, SuccessResponse } from '@tsoa/runtime';
+import { Body, Controller, Get, Post, Route, SuccessResponse } from '@tsoa/runtime';
 import { TestModel } from '../testModel';
 import { ModelService } from 'fixtures/services/modelService';
 
@@ -16,6 +16,18 @@ export class CustomResponseDescController extends Controller {
     return new ModelService().getModel();
   }
 
+  /** @returns */
+  @Post('emptyReturnsTag')
+  public async emptyReturnsTag(@Body() body: TestModel): Promise<number> {
+    return body.id;
+  }
+
+  /** @returns {Promise<number>} */
+  @Post('typeOnlyReturnsTag')
+  public async typeOnlyReturnsTag(@Body() body: TestModel): Promise<number> {
+    return body.id;
+  }
+
   @Get('successResponseAndJsDocAnnotation')
   /**
    * @returns custom description from jsdoc annotation
diff --git a/tests/unit/swagger/definitionsGeneration/metadata.spec.ts b/tests/unit/swagger/definitionsGeneration/metadata.spec.ts
index 48774247b..9b9732d61 100644
--- a/tests/unit/swagger/definitionsGeneration/metadata.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/swagger/definitionsGeneration/metadata.spec.ts
@@ -1042,6 +1042,17 @@ describe('Metadata generation', () => {
       expect(method.responses[0].name).to.equal('200');
       expect(method.responses[0].description).to.equal(description);
     });
+
+    it('ignores empty and type-only @returns tags', () => {
+      for (const methodName of ['emptyReturnsTag', 'typeOnlyReturnsTag']) {
+        const method = controller.methods.find(m => m.name === methodName);
+        if (!method) {
+          throw new Error(`method ${methodName} not defined`);
+        }
+        expect(method.responses[0].description).to.equal('Ok');
+      }
+    });
+
     it("should not override @SuccessResponse's description even if @returns is present", () => {
       const description = 'Success Response description';
       const method = controller.methods.find(m => m.name === 'successResponseAndJsDocAnnotation');