diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 9e49cc3a6..afb59c379 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ Collate:
     'declared_functions.R'
     'deprecated.R'
     'duplicate_argument_linter.R'
+    'empty_assignment_linter.R'
     'equals_na_linter.R'
     'exclude.R'
     'expect_comparison_linter.R'
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 7594686ee..2a00bc86d 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export(default_settings)
 export(default_undesirable_functions)
 export(default_undesirable_operators)
 export(duplicate_argument_linter)
+export(empty_assignment_linter)
 export(equals_na_linter)
 export(expect_comparison_linter)
 export(expect_identical_linter)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 2da107467..529b8d4e3 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@
 
 * `for_loop_index_linter()` to prevent overwriting local variables in a `for` loop declared like `for (x in x) { ... }` (@MichaelChirico)
 
+* `empty_assignment_linter()` for identifying empty assignments like `x = {}` that are more clearly written as `x = NULL` (@MichaelChirico)
+
 ## Notes
 
 * `lint()` continues to support Rmarkdown documents. For users of custom .Rmd engines, e.g.
diff --git a/R/empty_assignment_linter.R b/R/empty_assignment_linter.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f967e8be3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/empty_assignment_linter.R
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#' Block assignment of `{}`
+#'
+#' Assignment of `{}` is the same as assignment of `NULL`; use the latter
+#'   for clarity. Closely related: [unneeded_concatenation_linter()].
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' # will produce lints
+#' lint(
+#'   text = "x <- {}",
+#'   linters = empty_assignment_linter()
+#' )
+#'
+#' cat("x = {\n}")
+#' lint(
+#'   text = "x = {\n}",
+#'   linters = empty_assignment_linter()
+#' )
+#'
+#' # okay
+#' lint(
+#'   text = "x <- { 3 + 4 }",
+#'   linters = empty_assignment_linter()
+#' )
+#'
+#' lint(
+#'   text = "x <- NULL",
+#'   linters = empty_assignment_linter()
+#' )
+#'
+#' @evalRd rd_tags("empty_assignment_linter")
+#' @seealso [linters] for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
+#' @export
+empty_assignment_linter <- function() {
+  # for some reason, the parent in the `=` case is <equal_assign>, not <expr>, hence parent::expr
+  xpath <- "
+  //OP-LEFT-BRACE[following-sibling::*[1][self::OP-RIGHT-BRACE]]
+    /parent::expr[
+      preceding-sibling::LEFT_ASSIGN
+      or preceding-sibling::EQ_ASSIGN
+      or following-sibling::RIGHT_ASSIGN
+    ]
+    /parent::*
+  "
+
+  Linter(function(source_expression) {
+    if (!is_lint_level(source_expression, "expression")) {
+      return(list())
+    }
+
+    xml <- source_expression$xml_parsed_content
+
+    bad_expr <- xml2::xml_find_all(xml, xpath)
+
+    xml_nodes_to_lints(
+      bad_expr,
+      source_expression = source_expression,
+      lint_message =
+        "Assign NULL explicitly or, whenever possible, allocate the empty object with the right type and size.",
+      type = "warning"
+    )
+  })
+}
diff --git a/inst/lintr/linters.csv b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
index 8a1b785ca..fbcb118c8 100644
--- a/inst/lintr/linters.csv
+++ b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ conjunct_test_linter,package_development best_practices readability
 consecutive_stopifnot_linter,style readability consistency
 cyclocomp_linter,style readability best_practices default configurable
 duplicate_argument_linter,correctness common_mistakes configurable
+empty_assignment_linter,readability best_practices
 equals_na_linter,robustness correctness common_mistakes default
 expect_comparison_linter,package_development best_practices
 expect_identical_linter,package_development
diff --git a/man/best_practices_linters.Rd b/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
index 0e50a0341..89c244df0 100644
--- a/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'best_practices':
 \item{\code{\link{condition_message_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{conjunct_test_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{cyclocomp_linter}}}
+\item{\code{\link{empty_assignment_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_comparison_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_length_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_named_linter}}}
diff --git a/man/empty_assignment_linter.Rd b/man/empty_assignment_linter.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69d92d784
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/empty_assignment_linter.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/empty_assignment_linter.R
+\name{empty_assignment_linter}
+\alias{empty_assignment_linter}
+\title{Block assignment of \code{{}}}
+\usage{
+empty_assignment_linter()
+}
+\description{
+Assignment of \code{{}} is the same as assignment of \code{NULL}; use the latter
+for clarity. Closely related: \code{\link[=unneeded_concatenation_linter]{unneeded_concatenation_linter()}}.
+}
+\examples{
+# will produce lints
+lint(
+  text = "x <- {}",
+  linters = empty_assignment_linter()
+)
+
+cat("x = {\n}")
+lint(
+  text = "x = {\n}",
+  linters = empty_assignment_linter()
+)
+
+# okay
+lint(
+  text = "x <- { 3 + 4 }",
+  linters = empty_assignment_linter()
+)
+
+lint(
+  text = "x <- NULL",
+  linters = empty_assignment_linter()
+)
+
+}
+\seealso{
+\link{linters} for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
+}
+\section{Tags}{
+\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices}, \link[=readability_linters]{readability}
+}
diff --git a/man/linters.Rd b/man/linters.Rd
index d27042536..8f45c9946 100644
--- a/man/linters.Rd
+++ b/man/linters.Rd
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ see also \code{\link[=available_tags]{available_tags()}}.
 \section{Tags}{
 The following tags exist:
 \itemize{
-\item{\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices} (43 linters)}
+\item{\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices} (44 linters)}
 \item{\link[=common_mistakes_linters]{common_mistakes} (7 linters)}
 \item{\link[=configurable_linters]{configurable} (20 linters)}
 \item{\link[=consistency_linters]{consistency} (17 linters)}
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ The following tags exist:
 \item{\link[=efficiency_linters]{efficiency} (20 linters)}
 \item{\link[=executing_linters]{executing} (5 linters)}
 \item{\link[=package_development_linters]{package_development} (14 linters)}
-\item{\link[=readability_linters]{readability} (43 linters)}
+\item{\link[=readability_linters]{readability} (44 linters)}
 \item{\link[=robustness_linters]{robustness} (13 linters)}
 \item{\link[=style_linters]{style} (36 linters)}
 }
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ The following linters exist:
 \item{\code{\link{consecutive_stopifnot_linter}} (tags: consistency, readability, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{cyclocomp_linter}} (tags: best_practices, configurable, default, readability, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{duplicate_argument_linter}} (tags: common_mistakes, configurable, correctness)}
+\item{\code{\link{empty_assignment_linter}} (tags: best_practices, readability)}
 \item{\code{\link{equals_na_linter}} (tags: common_mistakes, correctness, default, robustness)}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_comparison_linter}} (tags: best_practices, package_development)}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_identical_linter}} (tags: package_development)}
diff --git a/man/readability_linters.Rd b/man/readability_linters.Rd
index 9e87c10e1..9454fcebb 100644
--- a/man/readability_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/readability_linters.Rd
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'readability':
 \item{\code{\link{conjunct_test_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{consecutive_stopifnot_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{cyclocomp_linter}}}
+\item{\code{\link{empty_assignment_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_length_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_named_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_not_linter}}}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-empty_assignment_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-empty_assignment_linter.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..01aa216bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-empty_assignment_linter.R
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+test_that("empty_assignment_linter skips valid usage", {
+  expect_lint("x <- { 3 + 4 }", NULL, empty_assignment_linter())
+  expect_lint("x <- if (x > 1) { 3 + 4 }", NULL, empty_assignment_linter())
+
+  # also triggers assignment_linter
+  expect_lint("x = { 3 + 4 }", NULL, empty_assignment_linter())
+})
+
+test_that("empty_assignment_linter blocks disallowed usages", {
+  linter <- empty_assignment_linter()
+  lint_msg <- rex::rex("Assign NULL explicitly or, whenever possible, allocate the empty object")
+
+  expect_lint("xrep <- {}", lint_msg, linter)
+
+  # assignment with equal works as well, and white space doesn't matter
+  expect_lint("x = {   }", lint_msg, linter)
+
+  # ditto right assignments
+  expect_lint("{} -> x", lint_msg, linter)
+  expect_lint("{} ->> x", lint_msg, linter)
+
+  # ditto data.table-style walrus assignments
+  expect_lint("x[, col := {}]", lint_msg, linter)
+
+  # newlines also don't matter
+  expect_lint("x <- {\n}", lint_msg, linter)
+
+  # LHS of assignment doesn't matter
+  expect_lint("env$obj <- {}", lint_msg, linter)
+})