diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/google/googlejavaformat/java/JavaInputAstVisitor.java b/core/src/main/java/com/google/googlejavaformat/java/JavaInputAstVisitor.java
index d138011f0..ccb1e99ef 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/google/googlejavaformat/java/JavaInputAstVisitor.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/google/googlejavaformat/java/JavaInputAstVisitor.java
@@ -1929,13 +1929,34 @@ public Void visitReturn(ReturnTree node, Void unused) {
     sync(node);
     token("return");
     if (node.getExpression() != null) {
-      builder.space();
-      scan(node.getExpression(), null);
+      ExpressionTree expression = node.getExpression();
+      // Text blocks after return must start on their own line so the opening delimiter
+      // is indented like other expression contexts (Google Java Style 4.8.9;
+      // https://github.com/google/google-java-format/issues/1258). A fill-mode break is
+      // not enough: return plus the delimiter fits on one line and stays attached.
+      if (isTextBlockLiteral(expression)) {
+        builder.open(plusFour);
+        builder.breakOp(FillMode.FORCED, " ", ZERO);
+        scan(expression, null);
+        builder.close();
+      } else {
+        builder.space();
+        scan(expression, null);
+      }
     }
     token(";");
     return null;
   }
 
+  /** True when {@code expression} is a text block literal. */
+  private boolean isTextBlockLiteral(ExpressionTree expression) {
+    if (expression.getKind() != STRING_LITERAL) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    String source = getSourceForNode(expression, getCurrentPath());
+    return source.startsWith("\"\"\"");
+  }
+
   // TODO(cushon): is this worth special-casing?
   private boolean visitSingleMemberAnnotation(AnnotationTree node) {
     if (node.getArguments().size() != 1) {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/com/google/googlejavaformat/java/FormatterTest.java b/core/src/test/java/com/google/googlejavaformat/java/FormatterTest.java
index 7414e4e50..7d4f91e9d 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/com/google/googlejavaformat/java/FormatterTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/com/google/googlejavaformat/java/FormatterTest.java
@@ -862,4 +862,50 @@ public void maxLineLengthNonPositive() {
             IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> Style.builder().maxLineLength(-1).build());
     assertThat(e).hasMessageThat().contains("maxLineLength must be positive, was: -1");
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void returnTextBlockStartsOnOwnLine() throws Exception {
+    // https://github.com/google/google-java-format/issues/1258
+    // CLI applies StringWrapper after formatSource; match that pipeline.
+    Formatter formatter = new Formatter();
+    String input =
+        """
+        class T {
+          String f() {
+            return \"""
+            this is sample text
+            \""";
+          }
+        }
+        """;
+    String expected =
+        """
+        class T {
+          String f() {
+            return
+                \"""
+                this is sample text
+                \""";
+          }
+        }
+        """;
+    String formatted = StringWrapper.wrap(formatter.formatSource(input), formatter);
+    assertThat(formatted).isEqualTo(expected);
+    assertThat(StringWrapper.wrap(formatter.formatSource(formatted), formatter))
+        .isEqualTo(expected);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void returnOrdinaryStringUnchanged() throws Exception {
+    String input =
+        """
+        class T {
+          String f() {
+            return "hello";
+          }
+        }
+        """;
+    assertThat(new Formatter().formatSource(input)).isEqualTo(input);
+  }
+
 }