diff --git a/packages/client/src/router/resolveRoutePath.ts b/packages/client/src/router/resolveRoutePath.ts
index 430f8f123f..36f2cf81a6 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/router/resolveRoutePath.ts
+++ b/packages/client/src/router/resolveRoutePath.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,22 @@ export const resolveRoutePath = (
     return redirectedRoutePath
   }
 
+  // fallback to the directory route
+  // when the raw path has no extension and the normalized `.html` route does not exist,
+  // try to match the directory route instead, e.g. `/foo` -> `/foo.html` -> `/foo/`
+  // the same-named file route is prioritized, so `/foo` will resolve to `/foo.html`
+  // when `foo.md` exists, and only fallback to `/foo/` when it does not
+  if (normalizedRoutePath.endsWith('.html') && !pathname.includes('.')) {
+    const directoryRoutePath = `${normalizedRoutePath.slice(
+      0,
+      -'.html'.length,
+    )}/`
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unnecessary-condition -- unsafe indexed access
+    if (routes.value[directoryRoutePath]) {
+      return directoryRoutePath
+    }
+  }
+
   // default to normalized route path
   return normalizedRoutePath
 }
diff --git a/packages/client/tests/router/resolveRoutePath.spec.ts b/packages/client/tests/router/resolveRoutePath.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..90ce626bc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/client/tests/router/resolveRoutePath.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+
+import { routes } from '../../src/internal/routes.js'
+import { resolveRoutePath } from '../../src/router/resolveRoutePath.js'
+
+// mock the generated `@internal/routes` module to provide test fixtures
+vi.mock('../../src/internal/routes.js', () => ({
+  routes: {
+    value: {
+      '/': { loader: vi.fn() },
+      '/bar/': { loader: vi.fn() },
+      '/foo/': { loader: vi.fn() },
+      '/foo.html': { loader: vi.fn() },
+      '/foo/bar.html': { loader: vi.fn() },
+      '/foo/index.html': { loader: vi.fn() },
+    },
+  },
+  redirects: {
+    value: {},
+  },
+}))
+
+const TEST_CASES: [string, string][] = [
+  // root
+  ['/', '/'],
+  ['/index.html', '/'],
+
+  // directory route with a same-named file route
+  // the same-named file route has priority, so `/foo` resolves to `/foo.html`
+  // instead of falling back to `/foo/`
+  ['/foo', '/foo.html'],
+  ['/foo/', '/foo/'],
+  ['/foo/index.html', '/foo/'],
+  ['/foo/README.md', '/foo/'],
+
+  // directory route without a same-named file route
+  // fallback to the directory route, `/bar` -> `/bar.html` -> `/bar/`
+  ['/bar', '/bar/'],
+  ['/bar/', '/bar/'],
+
+  // file route
+  ['/foo/bar', '/foo/bar.html'],
+  ['/foo/bar.html', '/foo/bar.html'],
+  ['/foo/bar.md', '/foo/bar.html'],
+
+  // 404 paths should be kept as-is (normalized)
+  ['/not-exist', '/not-exist.html'],
+  ['/foo/not-exist', '/foo/not-exist.html'],
+]
+
+describe('resolveRoutePath', () => {
+  it('should resolve route paths correctly', () => {
+    TEST_CASES.forEach(([path, expected]) => {
+      expect(resolveRoutePath(path), `"${path}"`).toBe(expected)
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should fallback to directory route when the same-named file route does not exist', () => {
+    // `/bar` normalizes to `/bar.html` which does not exist in routes,
+    // but `/bar/` exists, so it should fallback to `/bar/`
+    expect(routes.value['/bar.html']).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(routes.value['/bar/']).toBeDefined()
+    expect(resolveRoutePath('/bar')).toBe('/bar/')
+  })
+
+  it('should prioritize the same-named file route over the directory route', () => {
+    // `/foo` normalizes to `/foo.html` which exists in routes,
+    // so it should NOT fallback to `/foo/` even though `/foo/` exists
+    expect(routes.value['/foo.html']).toBeDefined()
+    expect(routes.value['/foo/']).toBeDefined()
+    expect(resolveRoutePath('/foo')).toBe('/foo.html')
+  })
+})