diff --git a/src/AspectMock/Intercept/BeforeMockTransformer.php b/src/AspectMock/Intercept/BeforeMockTransformer.php
index 48dfac0..c2b7051 100644
--- a/src/AspectMock/Intercept/BeforeMockTransformer.php
+++ b/src/AspectMock/Intercept/BeforeMockTransformer.php
@@ -58,10 +58,13 @@ public function transform(StreamMetaData $metadata): TransformerResultEnum
                     if ($method->isGenerator()) {
                         $beforeDefinition = str_replace('return', 'yield', $beforeDefinition);
                     }
-                    if (method_exists($method, 'getReturnType') && $method->getReturnType() == 'void') {
-                        //TODO remove method_exists($method, 'getReturnType') when support for php5 is dropped
+                    if ($method->getReturnType() == 'void') {
                         $beforeDefinition = str_replace('return $__am_res;', 'return;', $beforeDefinition);
                     }
+                    if ($method->getReturnType() == 'never') {
+                        // Replace return with a NOOP since the method cannot return
+                        $beforeDefinition = str_replace(' return $__am_res;', ';', $beforeDefinition);
+                    }
 
                     $reflectedParams = $method->getParameters();