diff --git a/ext/TensorOperationsBumperExt.jl b/ext/TensorOperationsBumperExt.jl
index 12791765..b6713666 100644
--- a/ext/TensorOperationsBumperExt.jl
+++ b/ext/TensorOperationsBumperExt.jl
@@ -27,16 +27,14 @@ function TensorOperations._butensor(src, ex...)
     buf_sym = gensym("buffer")
 
     # TODO: there is no check for doubled tensor kwargs
-    newex = quote
-        $buf_sym = $(Expr(:call, GlobalRef(Bumper, :default_buffer)))
-        $(
-            Expr(
-                :macrocall, GlobalRef(TensorOperations, Symbol("@tensor")),
-                src, :(allocator = $buf_sym), ex...
-            )
+    return Expr(
+        :block,
+        Expr(:(=), buf_sym, Expr(:call, GlobalRef(Bumper, :default_buffer))),
+        Expr(
+            :macrocall, GlobalRef(TensorOperations, Symbol("@tensor")),
+            src, :(allocator = $buf_sym), ex...
         )
-    end
-    return Base.remove_linenums!(newex)
+    )
 end
 
 end
diff --git a/src/indexnotation/contractiontrees.jl b/src/indexnotation/contractiontrees.jl
index 77c4ccb8..e6af1a6c 100644
--- a/src/indexnotation/contractiontrees.jl
+++ b/src/indexnotation/contractiontrees.jl
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ function insertcontractiontrees!(
             end
         )
     end
-    push!(postexprs, removelinenumbernode(costcompareex))
+    push!(postexprs, removeinternallinenumbernodes(costcompareex))
     return treeex
 end
 
diff --git a/src/indexnotation/parser.jl b/src/indexnotation/parser.jl
index 6bdd55ca..e8505564 100644
--- a/src/indexnotation/parser.jl
+++ b/src/indexnotation/parser.jl
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ mutable struct TensorParser
         contractiontreebuilder = defaulttreebuilder
         contractiontreesorter = defaulttreesorter
         contractioncostcheck = nothing
-        postprocessors = [_flatten, removelinenumbernode, addtensoroperations]
+        postprocessors = [_flatten, addtensoroperations]
         return new(
             preprocessors,
             contractiontreebuilder, contractiontreesorter, contractioncostcheck,
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ function (parser::TensorParser)(ex::Expr)
     for p in parser.postprocessors
         ex = p(ex)::Expr
     end
+    ex = removeinternallinenumbernodes(ex)::Expr
     return ex
 end
 
diff --git a/src/indexnotation/postprocessors.jl b/src/indexnotation/postprocessors.jl
index 25b4297a..21bc613b 100644
--- a/src/indexnotation/postprocessors.jl
+++ b/src/indexnotation/postprocessors.jl
@@ -30,10 +30,45 @@ function _flatten(ex)
     end
 end
 
+# package source directory (with trailing separator), used to recognize `LineNumberNode`s that
+# point into the parser's own `quote` blocks rather than into user code.
+const _PARSER_SRCDIR = joinpath(dirname(@__DIR__), "")
+
+_isinternallinenumber(@nospecialize(x)) =
+    x isa LineNumberNode && startswith(String(x.file), _PARSER_SRCDIR)
+
+"""
+    removeinternallinenumbernodes(ex)
+
+Remove all `LineNumberNode`s that point into the TensorOperations source tree, i.e. the ones
+introduced by the parser's own `quote` blocks. `LineNumberNode`s originating from user code are
+kept, so that the generated code remains attributable to the user's source lines (e.g. for code
+coverage).
+"""
+function removeinternallinenumbernodes(ex)
+    if isexpr(ex, :block)
+        # within a block, `LineNumberNode`s are statement markers: drop the internal ones
+        args = Any[removeinternallinenumbernodes(e) for e in ex.args
+            if !_isinternallinenumber(e)]
+        return Expr(:block, args...)
+    elseif isa(ex, Expr)
+        # elsewhere (e.g. the mandatory 2nd argument of a `:macrocall`) a `LineNumberNode` may
+        # be structurally required, so keep all positions and only recurse into nested blocks
+        return Expr(ex.head, Any[removeinternallinenumbernodes(e) for e in ex.args]...)
+    else
+        return ex
+    end
+end
+
 """
     removelinenumbernode(ex)
 
 Remove all `LineNumberNode`s from an expression.
+
+!!! note
+    Kept for backwards compatibility. The parser now uses
+    [`removeinternallinenumbernodes`](@ref), which preserves user `LineNumberNode`s so that
+    generated code stays attributable to the user's source lines (e.g. for code coverage).
 """
 function removelinenumbernode(ex)
     if isexpr(ex, :block)
diff --git a/test/butensor.jl b/test/butensor.jl
index fefcb211..b0e4d501 100644
--- a/test/butensor.jl
+++ b/test/butensor.jl
@@ -6,6 +6,21 @@
 end
 
 using Bumper
+@testset "@butensor preserves user line numbers (issue #280)" begin
+    # `@butensor` wraps the block in an inner `@tensor`; make sure it does not strip the user's
+    # line numbers, and does not leak TensorOperations-internal ones.
+    pkgsrc = dirname(pathof(TensorOperations))
+    lnns = LineNumberNode[]
+    collect_lnns(x) = x isa LineNumberNode ? push!(lnns, x) :
+        x isa Expr && foreach(collect_lnns, x.args)
+    collect_lnns(@macroexpand @butensor begin
+        T[a, b] := X[a, c] * Y[c, b]
+        Z[a, b] := T[a, c] * W[c, b]
+    end)
+    @test !any(l -> startswith(String(l.file), pkgsrc), lnns)
+    @test count(l -> String(l.file) == @__FILE__, lnns) >= 2
+end
+
 @testset "Bumper tests with eltype $T" for T in (Float32, ComplexF64)
     D1, D2, D3 = 30, 40, 20
     d1, d2 = 2, 3
diff --git a/test/macro_kwargs.jl b/test/macro_kwargs.jl
index db577e49..621bc059 100644
--- a/test/macro_kwargs.jl
+++ b/test/macro_kwargs.jl
@@ -92,6 +92,54 @@ end
     end
 end
 
+# https://github.com/QuantumKitHub/TensorOperations.jl/issues/280: the generated code must keep
+# the user's `LineNumberNode`s (so `@tensor` lines show up in code coverage) while dropping the
+# parser's own internal ones (which would otherwise pollute the package's coverage).
+@testset "line numbers (issue #280)" begin
+    collectlinenumbernodes(ex, acc = LineNumberNode[]) =
+        (ex isa LineNumberNode ? push!(acc, ex) :
+         ex isa Expr && foreach(e -> collectlinenumbernodes(e, acc), ex.args); acc)
+    pkgsrc = dirname(pathof(TensorOperations))
+    pkglnns(lnns) = filter(l -> startswith(String(l.file), pkgsrc), lnns)
+    userlines(lnns) = sort!(unique!([l.line for l in lnns if String(l.file) == @__FILE__]))
+
+    @testset "no internal LineNumberNodes leak into generated code" begin
+        # covers the scalar, dst-reuse and checkpoint `quote` paths in the parser
+        exprs = [
+            @macroexpand(@tensor T[a, b] := A[a, c] * B[c, b]),
+            @macroexpand(@tensor R[a, b] := A[a, c] * B[c, d] * C[d, e] * E[e, f] * F[f, b]),
+            @macroexpand(@tensor s = X[a, b] * Y[a, b]),
+            @macroexpand(@tensoropt R[a, b] := A[a, c] * B[c, d] * C[d, e] * E[e, b]),
+            @macroexpand(@tensor allocator = alloc R[a, b] := A[a, c] * B[c, d] * C[d, b]),
+            @macroexpand(@tensor costcheck = warn R[a, b] := A[a, c] * B[c, d] * C[d, b]),
+            @macroexpand(@tensor contractcheck = true R[a, b] := A[a, c] * B[c, b]),
+        ]
+        for ex in exprs
+            @test isempty(pkglnns(collectlinenumbernodes(ex)))
+        end
+    end
+
+    @testset "user LineNumberNodes are preserved per statement" begin
+        # multi-statement block, including a nested contraction whose intermediate is reused
+        block = @macroexpand @tensor begin
+            T[a, e] := A[a, c] * B[c, d] * C[d, e]
+            D[a, b] := T[a, e] * E[e, b]
+            s = D[a, b] * F[a, b]
+        end
+        lnns = collectlinenumbernodes(block)
+        @test isempty(pkglnns(lnns))
+        @test length(userlines(lnns)) >= 3  # one distinct user line per statement
+
+        optblock = @macroexpand @tensoropt begin
+            T[a, e] := A[a, c] * B[c, d] * C[d, e]
+            D[a, b] := T[a, e] * E[e, b]
+        end
+        optlnns = collectlinenumbernodes(optblock)
+        @test isempty(pkglnns(optlnns))
+        @test length(userlines(optlnns)) >= 2
+    end
+end
+
 @testset "opt" begin
     A = randn(5, 5, 5, 5)
     B = randn(5, 5, 5)