A method to evaluate the influence of the laser linewidth on the linearly frequency-modulated (LFM) signals generated by heterodyning two free-running laser diodes (LDs) is proposed. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the instantaneous frequency of the generated LFM signal and that of an ideal LFM signal is introduced to quantify the quality of the generated LFM signal. The closed-form solution of the correlation coefficient is given, which shows that the correlation coefficient is determined by the ratio of the LFM signal bandwidth to the square root of the total linewidth of the two LDs when the observation interval is fixed. Simulation results are also given, which proves the correctness of the theoretical results.