diff --git a/internal/chart/v3/lint/rules/template.go b/internal/chart/v3/lint/rules/template.go
index 4b2bce927..21658c5a3 100644
--- a/internal/chart/v3/lint/rules/template.go
+++ b/internal/chart/v3/lint/rules/template.go
@@ -123,6 +123,11 @@ func TemplatesWithSkipSchemaValidation(linter *support.Linter, values map[string
 		fileName := template.Name
 		fpath = fileName
 
+		// skip the linting rules if the file starts with _ and is not a yml/yaml file
+		if isHelperFile(fileName) {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		linter.RunLinterRule(support.ErrorSev, fpath, validateAllowedExtension(fileName))
 
 		// We only apply the following lint rules to yaml files
@@ -219,14 +224,19 @@ func validateTemplatesDir(templatesPath string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func validateAllowedExtension(fileName string) error {
+// checks if the file starts with '_'.
+func isHelperFile(fileName string) bool {
 	baseName := filepath.Base(fileName)
+	ext := filepath.Ext(fileName)
 
-	if strings.HasPrefix(baseName, "_") {
-		fmt.Println("skipping _ files")
-		return nil
+	if strings.HasPrefix(baseName, "_") && ext != ".yaml" && ext != ".yml" {
+		return true
 	}
 
+	return false
+}
+
+func validateAllowedExtension(fileName string) error {
 	ext := filepath.Ext(fileName)
 	validExtensions := []string{".yaml", ".yml", ".tpl", ".txt"}
 
diff --git a/internal/chart/v3/lint/rules/template_test.go b/internal/chart/v3/lint/rules/template_test.go
index 598ccf1e6..0d42be968 100644
--- a/internal/chart/v3/lint/rules/template_test.go
+++ b/internal/chart/v3/lint/rules/template_test.go
@@ -32,14 +32,14 @@ import (
 const templateTestBasedir = "./testdata/albatross"
 
 func TestValidateAllowedExtension(t *testing.T) {
-	var failTest = []string{"/foo", "/test.toml", "regular.json"}
+	var failTest = []string{"/foo", "/test.toml"}
 	for _, test := range failTest {
 		err := validateAllowedExtension(test)
 		if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Valid extensions are .yaml, .yml, .tpl, or .txt") {
 			t.Errorf("validateAllowedExtension('%s') to return \"Valid extensions are .yaml, .yml, .tpl, or .txt\", got no error", test)
 		}
 	}
-	var successTest = []string{"/foo.yaml", "foo.yaml", "foo.tpl", "/foo/bar/baz.yaml", "NOTES.txt", "_envoy.json"}
+	var successTest = []string{"/foo.yaml", "foo.yaml", "foo.tpl", "/foo/bar/baz.yaml", "NOTES.txt"}
 	for _, test := range successTest {
 		err := validateAllowedExtension(test)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -401,6 +401,7 @@ func TestEmptyWithCommentsManifests(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Expected 0 lint errors, got %d", l)
 	}
 }
+
 func TestValidateListAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 	md := &k8sYamlStruct{
 		APIVersion: "v1",
@@ -439,3 +440,35 @@ items:
 		t.Fatalf("List objects keep annotations should pass. got: %s", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestIsHelperFile(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		fileName string
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		// Should return true (helper files, non-yaml/yml)
+		{"_helpers.go", true},
+		{"_helpers.json", true},
+		{"subdir/_helpers.json", true},
+		{"subdir/_partial.tpl", true},
+		{"_config.txt", true},
+
+		// Should return false (yaml/yml files, even with _)
+		{"_helpers.yaml", false},
+		{"_config.yml", false},
+		{"subdir/_partial.yaml", false},
+
+		// Should return false (regular files without _)
+		{"helpers.go", false},
+		{"config.json", false},
+		{"deployment.yaml", false},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.fileName, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := isHelperFile(tt.fileName)
+			if result != tt.expected {
+				t.Errorf("isHelperFile(%q) = %v, expected %v", tt.fileName, result, tt.expected)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/chart/v2/lint/rules/template.go b/pkg/chart/v2/lint/rules/template.go
index 3006d8af8..3f567136e 100644
--- a/pkg/chart/v2/lint/rules/template.go
+++ b/pkg/chart/v2/lint/rules/template.go
@@ -123,6 +123,11 @@ func TemplatesWithSkipSchemaValidation(linter *support.Linter, values map[string
 		fileName := template.Name
 		fpath = fileName
 
+		// skip the linting rules if the file starts with _ and is not a yaml/yml file
+		if isHelperFile(fileName) {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		linter.RunLinterRule(support.ErrorSev, fpath, validateAllowedExtension(fileName))
 
 		// We only apply the following lint rules to yaml files
@@ -219,13 +224,19 @@ func validateTemplatesDir(templatesPath string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func validateAllowedExtension(fileName string) error {
+// checks if the file starts with '_'.
+func isHelperFile(fileName string) bool {
 	baseName := filepath.Base(fileName)
+	ext := filepath.Ext(fileName)
 
-	if strings.HasPrefix(baseName, "_") {
-		return nil
+	if strings.HasPrefix(baseName, "_") && ext != ".yaml" && ext != ".yml" {
+		return true
 	}
 
+	return false
+}
+
+func validateAllowedExtension(fileName string) error {
 	ext := filepath.Ext(fileName)
 	validExtensions := []string{".yaml", ".yml", ".tpl", ".txt"}
 
diff --git a/pkg/chart/v2/lint/rules/template_test.go b/pkg/chart/v2/lint/rules/template_test.go
index 9ad66800a..41b396838 100644
--- a/pkg/chart/v2/lint/rules/template_test.go
+++ b/pkg/chart/v2/lint/rules/template_test.go
@@ -32,14 +32,14 @@ import (
 const templateTestBasedir = "./testdata/albatross"
 
 func TestValidateAllowedExtension(t *testing.T) {
-	var failTest = []string{"/foo", "/test.toml", "regular.json"}
+	var failTest = []string{"/foo", "/test.toml"}
 	for _, test := range failTest {
 		err := validateAllowedExtension(test)
 		if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Valid extensions are .yaml, .yml, .tpl, or .txt") {
 			t.Errorf("validateAllowedExtension('%s') to return \"Valid extensions are .yaml, .yml, .tpl, or .txt\", got no error", test)
 		}
 	}
-	var successTest = []string{"/foo.yaml", "foo.yaml", "foo.tpl", "/foo/bar/baz.yaml", "NOTES.txt", "_regular.json"}
+	var successTest = []string{"/foo.yaml", "foo.yaml", "foo.tpl", "/foo/bar/baz.yaml", "NOTES.txt"}
 	for _, test := range successTest {
 		err := validateAllowedExtension(test)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -439,3 +439,35 @@ items:
 		t.Fatalf("List objects keep annotations should pass. got: %s", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestIsHelperFile(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		fileName string
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		// Should return true (helper files, non-yaml/yml)
+		{"_helpers.go", true},
+		{"_helpers.json", true},
+		{"subdir/_helpers.json", true},
+		{"subdir/_partial.tpl", true},
+		{"_config.txt", true},
+
+		// Should return false (yaml/yml files, even with _)
+		{"_helpers.yaml", false},
+		{"_config.yml", false},
+		{"subdir/_partial.yaml", false},
+
+		// Should return false (regular files without _)
+		{"helpers.go", false},
+		{"config.json", false},
+		{"deployment.yaml", false},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.fileName, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := isHelperFile(tt.fileName)
+			if result != tt.expected {
+				t.Errorf("isHelperFile(%q) = %v, expected %v", tt.fileName, result, tt.expected)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}