Glen Kamara's late goal gave QPR a 2-1 win over Lincoln City at Loftus Road.
Richard Kone's 11th-minute header - his fifth goal in four matches - put the hosts ahead before Dom Jefferies' equaliser.
Rangers endured a largely frustrating second half, but their persistence was rewarded in the 80th minute when midfielder Kamara thumped in his first goal since joining the club on a season-long loan from French side Rennes during the summer.
The victory was a much-needed boost for the west London side, who had dropped out of the Championship play-off places after winning just one of their previous four games.
They made a lively start and Kone diverted Jonathan Varane's volley wide shortly before giving Rangers a deserved lead.
After Daniel Oyegoke prevented Paul Smyth from getting to Kwame Poku's left-footed cross from the right flank, Boy Kemper intelligently headed the ball towards Kone, who nodded past keeper George Wickens.
Having scored an early goal, and seeming to be in control, QPR shot themselves in the foot after 29 minutes.
Varane gave away possession just inside his own half and Freddie Draper played in Jefferies, who calmly dinked the ball over keeper Pierce Charles.
The Imps could then have gone ahead but for a superb goal-line clearance by Kealey Adamson to deny Reeco Hackett, with R's captain Jimmy Dunne blocking Sonny Bradley's follow-up.
Harvey Vale headed Kemper's cross wide late in the first half and Wickens was called into action three times in quick succession early in the second.
After Poku's shot deflected off Vale, Wickens slipped but was able to make the stop, and then kept out an effort from Kamara shortly before saving with his legs to deny Smyth.
The fit-again Ilias Chair was sent on for Rangers just before the hour mark and fired over, as did Karamoko Dembele, who also came on as a substitute.
As Julien Stephan's side continued to push forward, Varane shot wide after being found by Dembele and Dunne had an effort blocked.
The breakthrough came when Chair collected a pass from Koki Saito, made space for himself and cleverly slotted the ball into the box towards Kamara, who took a touch before shooting into the bottom corner of the net.
Lincoln, promoted from League One last season, made a solid start to life in the second tier, but have now lost three matches in a row and have won just one of their past eight - a run that has included six defeats.
QPR head coach Julien Stephan:
"The big improvement is if I compare it with Bolton or Preston, when we didn't win.
"They continued to believe and continued to stick to the plan, and they scored a beautiful second goal.
"They deserve big credit to have been able to stay calm and I think it's a good sign of maturity. I think we've grown in the last weeks.
"We are better now. It doesn't mean it was perfect - we can develop some things, especially in the last third to be more clinical and have some better decisions sometimes - but I enjoyed it a lot.
"The players want to progress, they want to learn, and this was a good win for us."
Lincoln City's Chris Cohen:
"The game got away from us and we went into survival mode, which worked brilliantly for us last year.
"There have been too many times now where survival is just not enough. Our message over the next couple of weeks will be that you just can't survive at this level by being near your goal and defending too low.
"We have to keep the aggression and try to punch back. We've got to find a way to punch back and implement what we want to be as an attacking force more often and more consistently throughout the course of games.
"The (winning) goal felt like it was coming. The two penalty areas are absolutely everything in football matches, and we're conceding goals and chances that are unlike us over the last couple of seasons.
"We're not being optimistic enough or creating enough volume around their goal. We can suffer defeats, but it has to be a performance the supporters can be proud of, and over these three games maybe that hasn't been the case."
