diff --git a/.eslintrc.js b/.eslintrc.js
index eb2992755..1a71970aa 100644
--- a/.eslintrc.js
+++ b/.eslintrc.js
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ module.exports = {
   },
   env: {
     node: true,
+    es6: true,
   },
   rules: {
     eqeqeq: ['error', 'smart'],
diff --git a/rules/__tests__/no-disabled-tests.test.js b/rules/__tests__/no-disabled-tests.test.js
index 0720d3403..0ba7aa4df 100644
--- a/rules/__tests__/no-disabled-tests.test.js
+++ b/rules/__tests__/no-disabled-tests.test.js
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@
 const RuleTester = require('eslint').RuleTester;
 const rule = require('../no-disabled-tests');
 
-const ruleTester = new RuleTester();
+const ruleTester = new RuleTester({
+  parserOptions: {
+    sourceType: 'module',
+  },
+});
 
 ruleTester.run('no-disabled-tests', rule, {
   valid: [
@@ -17,6 +21,35 @@ ruleTester.run('no-disabled-tests', rule, {
     'var calledSkip = it.skip; calledSkip.call(it)',
     '({ f: function () {} }).f()',
     '(a || b).f()',
+    [
+      'import { pending } from "actions"',
+      '',
+      'test("foo", () => {',
+      '  expect(pending()).toEqual({})',
+      '})',
+    ].join('\n'),
+    [
+      'const { pending } = require("actions")',
+      '',
+      'test("foo", () => {',
+      '  expect(pending()).toEqual({})',
+      '})',
+    ].join('\n'),
+    [
+      'test("foo", () => {',
+      '  const pending = getPending()',
+      '  expect(pending()).toEqual({})',
+      '})',
+    ].join('\n'),
+    [
+      'test("foo", () => {',
+      '  expect(pending()).toEqual({})',
+      '})',
+      '',
+      'function pending() {',
+      '  return {}',
+      '}',
+    ].join('\n'),
   ],
 
   invalid: [
diff --git a/rules/no-disabled-tests.js b/rules/no-disabled-tests.js
index ca796f985..24a9173ef 100644
--- a/rules/no-disabled-tests.js
+++ b/rules/no-disabled-tests.js
@@ -19,6 +19,33 @@ function getName(node) {
   return null;
 }
 
+function collectReferences(scope) {
+  const locals = new Set();
+  const unresolved = new Set();
+
+  let currentScope = scope;
+
+  while (currentScope !== null) {
+    for (const ref of currentScope.variables) {
+      const isReferenceDefined = ref.defs.some(def => {
+        return def.type !== 'ImplicitGlobalVariable';
+      });
+
+      if (isReferenceDefined) {
+        locals.add(ref.name);
+      }
+    }
+
+    for (const ref of currentScope.through) {
+      unresolved.add(ref.identifier.name);
+    }
+
+    currentScope = currentScope.upper;
+  }
+
+  return { locals, unresolved };
+}
+
 module.exports = {
   meta: {
     docs: {
@@ -58,7 +85,19 @@ module.exports = {
             context.report({ message: 'Skipped test', node });
             break;
 
-          case 'pending':
+          case 'pending': {
+            const references = collectReferences(context.getScope());
+
+            if (
+              // `pending` was found as a local variable or function declaration.
+              references.locals.has('pending') ||
+              // `pending` was not found as an unresolved reference,
+              // meaning it is likely not an implicit global reference.
+              !references.unresolved.has('pending')
+            ) {
+              break;
+            }
+
             if (testDepth > 0) {
               context.report({
                 message: 'Call to pending() within test',
@@ -76,6 +115,7 @@ module.exports = {
               });
             }
             break;
+          }
 
           case 'xdescribe':
             context.report({ message: 'Disabled test suite', node });