diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9f8932913749..67e64d8cf692 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ samples/server/petstore/php-slim4/composer.lock
 samples/server/petstore/php-symfony/SymfonyBundle-php/composer.lock
 samples/server/petstore/php-mezzio-ph/composer.lock
 samples/server/petstore/php-mezzio-ph-modern/composer.lock
+samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/.phplint.cache/
 
 # ts
 samples/client/petstore/typescript-angular2/npm/npm-debug.log
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/PhpNextgenClientCodegen.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/PhpNextgenClientCodegen.java
index ebea0814795e..db4c29e32bcf 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/PhpNextgenClientCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/PhpNextgenClientCodegen.java
@@ -170,7 +170,11 @@ public OperationsMap postProcessOperationsWithModels(OperationsMap objs, List<Mo
             if (operation.returnType == null) {
                 operation.vendorExtensions.putIfAbsent("x-php-return-type", "void");
             } else {
-                operation.vendorExtensions.putIfAbsent("x-php-return-type", operation.returnType);
+                if (operation.returnProperty.isContainer) { // array or map
+                    operation.vendorExtensions.putIfAbsent("x-php-return-type", "array");
+                } else {
+                    operation.vendorExtensions.putIfAbsent("x-php-return-type", operation.returnType);
+                }
             }
 
             for (CodegenParameter param : operation.allParams) {
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/php-nextgen/api.mustache b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/php-nextgen/api.mustache
index b9098f049e59..c4a1faba7c64 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/php-nextgen/api.mustache
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/php-nextgen/api.mustache
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ use {{invokerPackage}}\ObjectSerializer;
     {{#vendorExtensions.x-group-parameters}}
         array $associative_array
     {{/vendorExtensions.x-group-parameters}}
-    ): {{vendorExtensions.x-php-return-type}}
+    ): {{{vendorExtensions.x-php-return-type}}}
     {
         {{#returnType}}list($response) = {{/returnType}}$this->{{operationId}}WithHttpInfo({{^vendorExtensions.x-group-parameters}}{{#allParams}}${{paramName}}, {{/allParams}}{{#servers}}{{#-first}}$hostIndex, $variables, {{/-first}}{{/servers}}$contentType{{/vendorExtensions.x-group-parameters}}{{#vendorExtensions.x-group-parameters}}$associative_array{{/vendorExtensions.x-group-parameters}});{{#returnType}}
         return $response;{{/returnType}}
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/phplint.dist.yml b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/phplint.dist.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3a1d5b715e9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/phplint.dist.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+path:
+  - src/
+  - tests/
+jobs: 10
+extensions:
+  - php
+exclude:
+  - vendor
+warning: true
+memory-limit: -1
+no-cache: false
+log-json: false
+log-junit: false
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Api/PetApi.php b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Api/PetApi.php
index d7bc09704eb3..e90831e0c556 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Api/PetApi.php
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Api/PetApi.php
@@ -827,7 +827,7 @@ public function deletePetRequest(
     public function findPetsByStatus(
         array $status,
         string $contentType = self::contentTypes['findPetsByStatus'][0]
-    ): \OpenAPI\Client\Model\Pet[]
+    ): array
     {
         list($response) = $this->findPetsByStatusWithHttpInfo($status, $contentType);
         return $response;
@@ -1131,7 +1131,7 @@ public function findPetsByStatusRequest(
     public function findPetsByTags(
         array $tags,
         string $contentType = self::contentTypes['findPetsByTags'][0]
-    ): \OpenAPI\Client\Model\Pet[]
+    ): array
     {
         list($response) = $this->findPetsByTagsWithHttpInfo($tags, $contentType);
         return $response;
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Api/StoreApi.php b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Api/StoreApi.php
index 22a8d864b151..7af35028e6db 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Api/StoreApi.php
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/php-nextgen/OpenAPIClient-php/src/Api/StoreApi.php
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ public function deleteOrderRequest(
      */
     public function getInventory(
         string $contentType = self::contentTypes['getInventory'][0]
-    ): array&lt;string,int&gt;
+    ): array
     {
         list($response) = $this->getInventoryWithHttpInfo($contentType);
         return $response;