diff --git a/src/NodeFinder/TypeAwareNodeFinder.php b/src/NodeFinder/TypeAwareNodeFinder.php
index 214007d99..85b6b61df 100644
--- a/src/NodeFinder/TypeAwareNodeFinder.php
+++ b/src/NodeFinder/TypeAwareNodeFinder.php
@@ -30,4 +30,13 @@ public function findFirstInstanceOf(array|Node $nodes, string $type): ?Node
     {
         return $this->nodeFinder->findFirstInstanceOf($nodes, $type);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * @param Node[]|Node $nodes
+     * @param callable(Node): bool $filter
+     */
+    public function findFirst(array|Node $nodes, callable $filter): ?Node
+    {
+        return $this->nodeFinder->findFirst($nodes, $filter);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Reflection/ReflectionParser.php b/src/Reflection/ReflectionParser.php
index 8889615fe..add4251b7 100644
--- a/src/Reflection/ReflectionParser.php
+++ b/src/Reflection/ReflectionParser.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 namespace Symplify\PHPStanRules\Reflection;
 
+use PhpParser\Node;
 use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\ClassLike;
 use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\ClassMethod;
 use PhpParser\NodeTraverser;
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ final class ReflectionParser
     /**
      * @var array<string, ClassLike>
      */
-    private array $classesByFilename = [];
+    private array $classesByName = [];
 
     private readonly Parser $parser;
 
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ public function parseClassReflection(ClassReflection $classReflection): ?ClassLi
             return null;
         }
 
-        return $this->parseFilenameToClass($fileName);
+        return $this->parseFilenameToClass($fileName, $classReflection->getName());
     }
 
     private function parseNativeClassReflection(ReflectionClass|ClassReflection $reflectionClass): ?ClassLike
@@ -68,13 +69,13 @@ private function parseNativeClassReflection(ReflectionClass|ClassReflection $ref
             return null;
         }
 
-        return $this->parseFilenameToClass($fileName);
+        return $this->parseFilenameToClass($fileName, $reflectionClass->getName());
     }
 
-    private function parseFilenameToClass(string $fileName): ClassLike|null
+    private function parseFilenameToClass(string $fileName, string $className): ClassLike|null
     {
-        if (isset($this->classesByFilename[$fileName])) {
-            return $this->classesByFilename[$fileName];
+        if (isset($this->classesByName[$className])) {
+            return $this->classesByName[$className];
         }
 
         try {
@@ -92,12 +93,17 @@ private function parseFilenameToClass(string $fileName): ClassLike|null
             return null;
         }
 
-        $classLike = $this->typeAwareNodeFinder->findFirstInstanceOf($stmts, ClassLike::class);
+        // a file can hold multiple class-likes, match the requested one by name
+        $classLike = $this->typeAwareNodeFinder->findFirst(
+            $stmts,
+            static fn (Node $node): bool => $node instanceof ClassLike && (string) $node->namespacedName === $className
+        );
+
         if (! $classLike instanceof ClassLike) {
             return null;
         }
 
-        $this->classesByFilename[$fileName] = $classLike;
+        $this->classesByName[$className] = $classLike;
 
         return $classLike;
     }
diff --git a/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/Fixture/SkipParentMethodWithReferenceAfterException.php b/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/Fixture/SkipParentMethodWithReferenceAfterException.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..49398e9eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/Fixture/SkipParentMethodWithReferenceAfterException.php
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Symplify\PHPStanRules\Tests\Rules\NoReferenceRule\Fixture;
+
+use Symplify\PHPStanRules\Tests\Rules\NoReferenceRule\Source\AbstractSomeParentClassAfterException;
+
+final class SkipParentMethodWithReferenceAfterException extends AbstractSomeParentClassAfterException
+{
+    public function someMethod(&$useIt)
+    {
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/NoReferenceRuleTest.php b/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/NoReferenceRuleTest.php
index ad8141e61..53ffb51ee 100644
--- a/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/NoReferenceRuleTest.php
+++ b/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/NoReferenceRuleTest.php
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ public static function provideData(): Iterator
 
         yield [__DIR__ . '/Fixture/SkipUseInReference.php', []];
         yield [__DIR__ . '/Fixture/SkipParentMethodWithReference.php', []];
+        yield [__DIR__ . '/Fixture/SkipParentMethodWithReferenceAfterException.php', []];
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/Source/AbstractSomeParentClassAfterException.php b/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/Source/AbstractSomeParentClassAfterException.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..65910fdf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Rules/NoReferenceRule/Source/AbstractSomeParentClassAfterException.php
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Symplify\PHPStanRules\Tests\Rules\NoReferenceRule\Source;
+
+use Exception;
+
+final class SomeExceptionBeforeParentClass extends Exception
+{
+}
+
+abstract class AbstractSomeParentClassAfterException
+{
+    public function someMethod(&$useIt)
+    {
+    }
+}