diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/UnhandledSelfAssignmentCheck.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/UnhandledSelfAssignmentCheck.cpp
index 8121a36f80346..1f432c4ccc5f0 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/UnhandledSelfAssignmentCheck.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/UnhandledSelfAssignmentCheck.cpp
@@ -74,9 +74,11 @@ void UnhandledSelfAssignmentCheck::registerMatchers(MatchFinder *Finder) {
     // Matcher for standard smart pointers.
     const auto SmartPointerType = qualType(hasUnqualifiedDesugaredType(
         recordType(hasDeclaration(classTemplateSpecializationDecl(
-            hasAnyName("::std::shared_ptr", "::std::unique_ptr",
-                       "::std::weak_ptr", "::std::auto_ptr"),
-            templateArgumentCountIs(1))))));
+            anyOf(allOf(hasAnyName("::std::shared_ptr", "::std::weak_ptr",
+                                   "::std::auto_ptr"),
+                        templateArgumentCountIs(1)),
+                  allOf(hasName("::std::unique_ptr"),
+                        templateArgumentCountIs(2))))))));
 
     // We will warn only if the class has a pointer or a C array field which
     // probably causes a problem during self-assignment (e.g. first resetting
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst b/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
index fabd0cc78ac64..24b2e61a6f17e 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
@@ -232,6 +232,10 @@ Changes in existing checks
   `bsl::optional` and `bdlb::NullableValue` from
   <https://github.com/bloomberg/bde>_.
 
+- Improved :doc:`bugprone-unhandled-self-assignment
+  <clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/unhandled-self-assignment>` check by fixing smart
+  pointer check against std::unique_ptr type.
+
 - Improved :doc:`bugprone-unsafe-functions
   <clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/unsafe-functions>` check to allow specifying
   additional functions to match.
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/unhandled-self-assignment.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/unhandled-self-assignment.cpp
index 14d27855d7c5a..8610393449f97 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/unhandled-self-assignment.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/unhandled-self-assignment.cpp
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ template <class T>
 T &&move(T &x) {
 }
 
-template <class T>
+template <typename T> class default_delete {};
+
+template <class T, typename Deleter = std::default_delete<T>>
 class unique_ptr {
 };