diff --git a/rules/DeadCode/Rector/Assign/RemoveUnusedVariableAssignRector.php b/rules/DeadCode/Rector/Assign/RemoveUnusedVariableAssignRector.php
index f5324f669be..45d297514e6 100644
--- a/rules/DeadCode/Rector/Assign/RemoveUnusedVariableAssignRector.php
+++ b/rules/DeadCode/Rector/Assign/RemoveUnusedVariableAssignRector.php
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\ClassMethod;
 use PhpParser\Node\Stmt\Expression;
 use PHPStan\Analyser\Scope;
+use Rector\Core\NodeAnalyzer\VariableAnalyzer;
 use Rector\Core\Php\ReservedKeywordAnalyzer;
 use Rector\Core\Rector\AbstractScopeAwareRector;
 use Rector\DeadCode\SideEffect\SideEffectNodeDetector;
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ final class RemoveUnusedVariableAssignRector extends AbstractScopeAwareRector
     public function __construct(
         private readonly ReservedKeywordAnalyzer $reservedKeywordAnalyzer,
         private readonly SideEffectNodeDetector $sideEffectNodeDetector,
+        private readonly VariableAnalyzer $variableAnalyzer
     ) {
     }
 
@@ -217,6 +219,14 @@ private function resolvedAssignedVariablesByStmtPosition(array $stmts): array
                 continue;
             }
 
+            if ($this->variableAnalyzer->isStaticOrGlobal($assign->var)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            if ($this->variableAnalyzer->isUsedByReference($assign->var)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
             $assignedVariableNamesByStmtPosition[$key] = $variableName;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Kernel/RectorKernel.php b/src/Kernel/RectorKernel.php
index d76182c3905..71d933c0d47 100644
--- a/src/Kernel/RectorKernel.php
+++ b/src/Kernel/RectorKernel.php
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ final class RectorKernel
     /**
      * @var string
      */
-    private const CACHE_KEY = 'v23';
+    private const CACHE_KEY = 'v24';
 
     private ContainerInterface|null $container = null;
 
diff --git a/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/Fixture/skip_use_static.php.inc b/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/Fixture/skip_use_static.php.inc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a87e89126b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/Fixture/skip_use_static.php.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Rector\Core\Tests\Issues\RemoveUnusedVariableDefault\Fixture;
+
+class SkipUseStatic
+{
+    public static function showProgress($thisStep = 1, int $totalSteps = 10)
+    {
+        static $inProgress = false;
+
+        if ($inProgress !== false && $inProgress <= $thisStep) {
+            static::fwrite(STDOUT, "\033[1A");
+        }
+        $inProgress = $thisStep;
+
+        if ($thisStep !== false) {
+            $thisStep   = abs($thisStep);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+?>
diff --git a/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/RemoveUnusedVariableDefaultTest.php b/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/RemoveUnusedVariableDefaultTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..05efb1d78f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/RemoveUnusedVariableDefaultTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Rector\Core\Tests\Issues\RemoveUnusedVariableDefault;
+
+use Iterator;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider;
+use Rector\Testing\PHPUnit\AbstractRectorTestCase;
+
+final class RemoveUnusedVariableDefaultTest extends AbstractRectorTestCase
+{
+    #[DataProvider('provideData')]
+    public function test(string $filePath): void
+    {
+        $this->doTestFile($filePath);
+    }
+
+    public static function provideData(): Iterator
+    {
+        return self::yieldFilesFromDirectory(__DIR__ . '/Fixture');
+    }
+
+    public function provideConfigFilePath(): string
+    {
+        return __DIR__ . '/config/configured_rule.php';
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/config/configured_rule.php b/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/config/configured_rule.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3d18e769432
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Issues/RemoveUnusedVariableDefault/config/configured_rule.php
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
+use Rector\DeadCode\Rector\Assign\RemoveUnusedVariableAssignRector;
+use Rector\Php56\Rector\FunctionLike\AddDefaultValueForUndefinedVariableRector;
+return static function (RectorConfig $rectorConfig): void {
+    $rectorConfig->rules([
+        RemoveUnusedVariableAssignRector::class,
+        AddDefaultValueForUndefinedVariableRector::class
+    ]);
+};