diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3206d143e6d1..e1a660ec9d5d 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ select = [
     "FA", # flake8-future-annotations
     "I", # isort
     "PGH", # pygrep-hooks
+    "RET", # flake8-return
     "RUF", # Ruff-specific and unused-noqa
     "UP", # pyupgrade
     "YTT", # flake8-2020
@@ -89,11 +90,16 @@ ignore = [
     ###
     # Rules we don't want or don't agree with
     ###
-    # Slower and more verbose https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff/issues/7871
-    "UP038", # Use `X | Y` in `isinstance` call instead of `(X, Y)`
     # Used for direct, non-subclass type comparison, for example: `type(val) is str`
     # see https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff/issues/6465
     "E721", # Do not compare types, use `isinstance()`
+    # `else` can be clearer to read, especially for short branches or elif chains
+    "RET505", #	Unnecessary `{branch}` after `return` statement
+    "RET506", # Unnecessary `{branch}` after `raise` statement
+    "RET507", # Unnecessary `{branch}` after `continue` statement
+    "RET508", # Unnecessary `{branch}` after `break` statement
+    # Slower and more verbose https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff/issues/7871
+    "UP038", # Use `X | Y` in `isinstance` call instead of `(X, Y)`
     ###
     # False-positives, but already checked by type-checkers
     ###
diff --git a/scripts/sync_protobuf/google_protobuf.py b/scripts/sync_protobuf/google_protobuf.py
index da2ced6f9fc7..2580807781b0 100644
--- a/scripts/sync_protobuf/google_protobuf.py
+++ b/scripts/sync_protobuf/google_protobuf.py
@@ -48,11 +48,10 @@ def extract_proto_file_paths(temp_dir: Path) -> list[str]:
     """
     with open(temp_dir / EXTRACTED_PACKAGE_DIR / "python" / "dist" / "BUILD.bazel") as file:
         matched_lines = filter(None, (re.search(PROTO_FILE_PATTERN, line) for line in file))
-        proto_files = [
+        return [
             EXTRACTED_PACKAGE_DIR + "/src/google/protobuf/" + match.group(1).replace("compiler_", "compiler/") + ".proto"
             for match in matched_lines
         ]
-    return proto_files
 
 
 def main() -> None:
diff --git a/tests/runtests.py b/tests/runtests.py
index 1c5ba0c18ab9..817778b23df9 100755
--- a/tests/runtests.py
+++ b/tests/runtests.py
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@ def _parse_jsonc(json_text: str) -> str:
     # strip comments from the file
     lines = [line for line in json_text.split("\n") if not line.strip().startswith("//")]
     # strip trailing commas from the file
-    valid_json = re.sub(r",(\s*?[\}\]])", r"\1", "\n".join(lines))
-    return valid_json
+    return re.sub(r",(\s*?[\}\]])", r"\1", "\n".join(lines))
 
 
 def _get_strict_params(stub_path: str) -> list[str]: