diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 0296fca65..9e49cc3a6 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ Collate:
     'extract.R'
     'extraction_operator_linter.R'
     'fixed_regex_linter.R'
+    'for_loop_index_linter.R'
     'function_argument_linter.R'
     'function_left_parentheses_linter.R'
     'function_return_linter.R'
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index b39d61b16..7594686ee 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ export(expect_true_false_linter)
 export(expect_type_linter)
 export(extraction_operator_linter)
 export(fixed_regex_linter)
+export(for_loop_index_linter)
 export(function_argument_linter)
 export(function_left_parentheses_linter)
 export(function_return_linter)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 95f56f6be..8d953b789 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@
 * `boolean_arithmetic_linter()` for identifying places where logical aggregations are more appropriate, e.g.
   `length(which(x == y)) == 0` is the same as `!any(x == y)` or even `all(x != y)` (@MichaelChirico)
 
+* `for_loop_index_linter()` to prevent overwriting local variables in a `for` loop declared like `for (x in x) { ... }` (@MichaelChirico)
+
 ## Notes
 
 * `lint()` continues to support Rmarkdown documents. For users of custom .Rmd engines, e.g.
diff --git a/R/for_loop_index_linter.R b/R/for_loop_index_linter.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..08c070531
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/for_loop_index_linter.R
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+#' Block usage of for loops directly overwriting the indexing variable
+#'
+#' `for (x in x)` is a poor choice of indexing variable. This overwrites
+#'   `x` in the calling scope and is confusing to read.
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' # will produce lints
+#' lint(
+#'   text = "for (x in x) { TRUE }",
+#'   linters = for_loop_index_linter()
+#' )
+#'
+#' lint(
+#'   text = "for (x in foo(x, y)) { TRUE }",
+#'   linters = for_loop_index_linter()
+#' )
+#'
+#' # okay
+#' lint(
+#'   text = "for (xi in x) { TRUE }",
+#'   linters = for_loop_index_linter()
+#' )
+#'
+#' lint(
+#'   text = "for (col in DF$col) { TRUE }",
+#'   linters = for_loop_index_linter()
+#' )
+#'
+#' @evalRd rd_tags("for_loop_index_linter")
+#' @seealso [linters] for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
+#' @export
+for_loop_index_linter <- function() {
+  xpath <- "
+  //forcond
+    /SYMBOL[text() =
+      following-sibling::expr
+        //SYMBOL[not(
+          preceding-sibling::OP-DOLLAR
+          or parent::expr[preceding-sibling::OP-LEFT-BRACKET]
+        )]
+        /text()
+    ]
+  "
+
+  Linter(function(source_expression) {
+    if (!is_lint_level(source_expression, "expression")) {
+      return(list())
+    }
+
+    xml <- source_expression$xml_parsed_content
+
+    bad_expr <- xml2::xml_find_all(xml, xpath)
+
+    xml_nodes_to_lints(
+      bad_expr,
+      source_expression = source_expression,
+      lint_message = "Don't re-use any sequence symbols as the index symbol in a for loop.",
+      type = "warning"
+    )
+  })
+}
diff --git a/inst/lintr/linters.csv b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
index 68a699ed4..8a1b785ca 100644
--- a/inst/lintr/linters.csv
+++ b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ expect_true_false_linter,package_development best_practices readability
 expect_type_linter,package_development best_practices
 extraction_operator_linter,style best_practices
 fixed_regex_linter,best_practices readability efficiency
+for_loop_index_linter,best_practices readability robustness
 function_argument_linter,style consistency best_practices
 function_left_parentheses_linter,style readability default
 function_return_linter,readability best_practices
diff --git a/man/best_practices_linters.Rd b/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
index b1c0f7033..0e50a0341 100644
--- a/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'best_practices':
 \item{\code{\link{expect_type_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{extraction_operator_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{fixed_regex_linter}}}
+\item{\code{\link{for_loop_index_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{function_argument_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{function_return_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{ifelse_censor_linter}}}
diff --git a/man/for_loop_index_linter.Rd b/man/for_loop_index_linter.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ccc4dab97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/for_loop_index_linter.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/for_loop_index_linter.R
+\name{for_loop_index_linter}
+\alias{for_loop_index_linter}
+\title{Block usage of for loops directly overwriting the indexing variable}
+\usage{
+for_loop_index_linter()
+}
+\description{
+\verb{for (x in x)} is a poor choice of indexing variable. This overwrites
+\code{x} in the calling scope and is confusing to read.
+}
+\examples{
+# will produce lints
+lint(
+  text = "for (x in x) { TRUE }",
+  linters = for_loop_index_linter()
+)
+
+lint(
+  text = "for (x in foo(x, y)) { TRUE }",
+  linters = for_loop_index_linter()
+)
+
+# okay
+lint(
+  text = "for (xi in x) { TRUE }",
+  linters = for_loop_index_linter()
+)
+
+lint(
+  text = "for (col in DF$col) { TRUE }",
+  linters = for_loop_index_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}, \link[=robustness_linters]{robustness}
+}
diff --git a/man/linters.Rd b/man/linters.Rd
index f92caf059..d27042536 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} (42 linters)}
+\item{\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices} (43 linters)}
 \item{\link[=common_mistakes_linters]{common_mistakes} (7 linters)}
 \item{\link[=configurable_linters]{configurable} (20 linters)}
 \item{\link[=consistency_linters]{consistency} (17 linters)}
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ 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} (42 linters)}
-\item{\link[=robustness_linters]{robustness} (12 linters)}
+\item{\link[=readability_linters]{readability} (43 linters)}
+\item{\link[=robustness_linters]{robustness} (13 linters)}
 \item{\link[=style_linters]{style} (36 linters)}
 }
 }
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ The following linters exist:
 \item{\code{\link{expect_type_linter}} (tags: best_practices, package_development)}
 \item{\code{\link{extraction_operator_linter}} (tags: best_practices, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{fixed_regex_linter}} (tags: best_practices, efficiency, readability)}
+\item{\code{\link{for_loop_index_linter}} (tags: best_practices, readability, robustness)}
 \item{\code{\link{function_argument_linter}} (tags: best_practices, consistency, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{function_left_parentheses_linter}} (tags: default, readability, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{function_return_linter}} (tags: best_practices, readability)}
diff --git a/man/readability_linters.Rd b/man/readability_linters.Rd
index 325709985..9e87c10e1 100644
--- a/man/readability_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/readability_linters.Rd
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'readability':
 \item{\code{\link{expect_not_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{expect_true_false_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{fixed_regex_linter}}}
+\item{\code{\link{for_loop_index_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{function_left_parentheses_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{function_return_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{infix_spaces_linter}}}
diff --git a/man/robustness_linters.Rd b/man/robustness_linters.Rd
index 7cf6cc82d..c73e0bd06 100644
--- a/man/robustness_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/robustness_linters.Rd
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'robustness':
 \item{\code{\link{backport_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{class_equals_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{equals_na_linter}}}
+\item{\code{\link{for_loop_index_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{missing_package_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{namespace_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{nonportable_path_linter}}}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-for_loop_index_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-for_loop_index_linter.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..47e0382ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-for_loop_index_linter.R
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+test_that("for_loop_index_linter skips allowed usages", {
+  expect_lint("for (xi in x) {}", NULL, for_loop_index_linter())
+
+  # this is OK, so not every symbol is problematic
+  expect_lint("for (col in DF$col) {}", NULL, for_loop_index_linter())
+  expect_lint("for (col in DT[, col]) {}", NULL, for_loop_index_linter())
+})
+
+test_that("for_loop_index_linter blocks simple disallowed usages", {
+  linter <- for_loop_index_linter()
+  lint_msg <- "Don't re-use any sequence symbols as the index symbol in a for loop"
+
+  expect_lint("for (x in x) {}", lint_msg, linter)
+  # these also overwrite a variable in calling scope
+  expect_lint("for (x in foo(x)) {}", lint_msg, linter)
+  # arbitrary nesting
+  expect_lint("for (x in foo(bar(y, baz(2, x)))) {}", lint_msg, linter)
+})