diff --git a/pkg/linters/fmterrorfnoverbs/fmterrorfnoverbs.go b/pkg/linters/fmterrorfnoverbs/fmterrorfnoverbs.go
index 72fca0ce73f..1d362a9723c 100644
--- a/pkg/linters/fmterrorfnoverbs/fmterrorfnoverbs.go
+++ b/pkg/linters/fmterrorfnoverbs/fmterrorfnoverbs.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ package fmterrorfnoverbs
 import (
 	"go/ast"
 	"go/token"
-	"strings"
 
 	"golang.org/x/tools/go/analysis"
 	"golang.org/x/tools/go/analysis/passes/inspect"
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ func run(pass *analysis.Pass) (any, error) {
 			val = val[1 : len(val)-1]
 		}
 
-		if !strings.Contains(val, "%") {
+		if !hasRealFormatVerb(val) {
 			position := pass.Fset.PositionFor(call.Pos(), false)
 			if nolint.HasDirective(position, noLintLinesByFile) {
 				return
@@ -71,3 +70,27 @@ func run(pass *analysis.Pass) (any, error) {
 
 	return nil, nil
 }
+
+// hasRealFormatVerb reports whether val (the raw content between the surrounding
+// quotes of a Go string literal) contains at least one format verb that is not
+// an escaped percent pair (%%). The sequence %% renders as a literal % at
+// runtime and does not consume an argument, so it is not a real verb.
+func hasRealFormatVerb(val string) bool {
+	for i := 0; i < len(val); i++ {
+		if val[i] != '%' {
+			continue
+		}
+		i++
+		if i >= len(val) {
+			// Trailing lone % is a malformed verb directive; treat it as present
+			// rather than suggesting errors.New for a broken format string.
+			return true
+		}
+		if val[i] == '%' {
+			// %% is an escaped percent, not a verb; skip the second % and continue.
+			continue
+		}
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/pkg/linters/fmterrorfnoverbs/testdata/src/fmterrorfnoverbs/fmterrorfnoverbs.go b/pkg/linters/fmterrorfnoverbs/testdata/src/fmterrorfnoverbs/fmterrorfnoverbs.go
index 610309a7638..e85ef4abc3e 100644
--- a/pkg/linters/fmterrorfnoverbs/testdata/src/fmterrorfnoverbs/fmterrorfnoverbs.go
+++ b/pkg/linters/fmterrorfnoverbs/testdata/src/fmterrorfnoverbs/fmterrorfnoverbs.go
@@ -47,3 +47,19 @@ func localShadowNotFlagged() error {
 	fmt := shadowFormatter{}
 	return fmt.Errorf("not fmt package")
 }
+
+// escapePercentOnly has only %% (escaped literal percent) and no real verb;
+// it should be flagged like a plain string.
+func escapePercentOnly() error {
+	return fmtalias.Errorf("disk usage exceeds 90%% limit") // want `fmt\.Errorf called with no format verbs; use errors\.New`
+}
+
+// realVerbWithEscapePercent has a real verb (%d) alongside %%; must NOT be flagged.
+func realVerbWithEscapePercent(n int) error {
+	return fmtalias.Errorf("%d%% done", n)
+}
+
+// multipleEscapePercents has multiple %% sequences but no real verb; should be flagged.
+func multipleEscapePercents() error {
+	return fmtalias.Errorf("between 50%% and 90%% utilised") // want `fmt\.Errorf called with no format verbs; use errors\.New`
+}