diff --git a/packages/babel-generator/src/printer.ts b/packages/babel-generator/src/printer.ts
index 491e096033b3..b5c37f6b5b58 100644
--- a/packages/babel-generator/src/printer.ts
+++ b/packages/babel-generator/src/printer.ts
@@ -130,11 +130,6 @@ class Printer {
   _indentInnerComments: boolean = true;
 
   generate(ast: t.Node) {
-    // Avoid inserting unexpected blank lines at the beginning and in the middle.
-    if (this.format.retainLines && ast.loc) {
-      this._buf._position.line = ast.loc.start.line;
-    }
-
     this.print(ast);
     this._maybeAddAuxComment();
 
diff --git a/packages/babel-generator/test/index.js b/packages/babel-generator/test/index.js
index b5816f24b710..f9816df02a35 100644
--- a/packages/babel-generator/test/index.js
+++ b/packages/babel-generator/test/index.js
@@ -1047,6 +1047,18 @@ describe("programmatic generation", function () {
     expect(output).toBe("() => void");
   });
 
+  it("generate a child node with retainLines", () => {
+    const node = parse("a;\n\nexpect(a).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`[1, 2]`);")
+      .program.body[1];
+    const output = generate(node, { retainLines: true }).code;
+
+    expect(output).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      "
+
+      expect(a).toMatchInlineSnapshot(\`[1, 2]\`);"
+    `);
+  });
+
   describe("directives", function () {
     it("preserves escapes", function () {
       const directive = t.directive(