diff --git a/R/seq_linter.R b/R/seq_linter.R
index 3291de2bc1..d07b8cdb67 100644
--- a/R/seq_linter.R
+++ b/R/seq_linter.R
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 #' )
 #'
 #' lint(
-#'   text = "unlist(lapply(x, seq_len))",
+#'   text = "unlist(lapply(x, seq, by = 2))",
 #'   linters = seq_linter()
 #' )
 #'
@@ -78,10 +78,14 @@ seq_linter <- function() {
 
   map_funcs <- c("sapply", "lapply", "map")
   seq_funcs <- xp_text_in_table(c("seq_len", "seq"))
+  # count(expr) = 3 because we only want seq() calls without extra arguments
   sequence_xpath <- glue("
-    parent::expr[following-sibling::expr/SYMBOL[ {seq_funcs} ]]
-    /parent::expr[preceding-sibling::expr/SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL[text() = 'unlist']]"
-  )
+    parent::expr/parent::expr[
+      count(expr) = 3
+      and expr/SYMBOL[ {seq_funcs} ]
+      and preceding-sibling::expr/SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL[text() = 'unlist']
+    ]
+  ")
 
   ## The actual order of the nodes is document order
   ## In practice we need to handle length(x):1
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-seq_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-seq_linter.R
index 0717e56f1e..be92fc7eb7 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-seq_linter.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-seq_linter.R
@@ -147,6 +147,16 @@ test_that("finds potential sequence() replacements", {
   )
 })
 
+test_that("sequence() is not recommended for complex seq() calls", {
+  linter <- seq_linter()
+
+  expect_lint(
+    "unlist(lapply(x, seq, from = 2))",
+    NULL,
+    linter
+  )
+})
+
 test_that("Message vectorization works for multiple lints", {
   linter <- seq_linter()