diff --git a/hugolib/pagecollections.go b/hugolib/pagecollections.go
index 58c646334b4..3783dadab88 100644
--- a/hugolib/pagecollections.go
+++ b/hugolib/pagecollections.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func (c *pageFinder) getPageRef(context page.Page, ref string) (page.Page, error
 }
 
 func (c *pageFinder) getPage(context page.Page, ref string) (page.Page, error) {
-	n, err := c.getContentNode(context, false, paths.ToSlashTrimTrailing(ref))
+	n, err := c.getContentNode(context, false, ref)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ func (c *pageFinder) getPageForRefs(ref ...string) (page.Page, error) {
 const defaultContentExt = ".md"
 
 func (c *pageFinder) getContentNode(context page.Page, isReflink bool, ref string) (contentNodeI, error) {
+	ref = paths.ToSlashTrimTrailing(ref)
 	inRef := ref
 	if ref == "" {
 		ref = "/"
diff --git a/hugolib/site_test.go b/hugolib/site_test.go
index 63088ee8829..1de1d688a69 100644
--- a/hugolib/site_test.go
+++ b/hugolib/site_test.go
@@ -992,6 +992,28 @@ func TestRefLinking(t *testing.T) {
 	// TODO: and then the failure cases.
 }
 
+func TestRelRefWithTrailingSlash(t *testing.T) {
+	files := `
+-- hugo.toml --
+-- content/docs/5.3/examples/_index.md --
+---
+title: "Examples"
+---
+-- content/_index.md --
+---
+title: "Home"
+---
+
+Examples: {{< relref "/docs/5.3/examples/" >}}
+-- layouts/home.html --
+Content: {{ .Content }}|
+`
+
+	b := Test(t, files)
+
+	b.AssertFileContent("public/index.html", "Examples: /docs/5.3/examples/")
+}
+
 func checkLinkCase(site *Site, link string, currentPage page.Page, relative bool, outputFormat string, expected string, t *testing.T, i int) {
 	t.Helper()
 	if out, err := site.refLink(link, currentPage, relative, outputFormat); err != nil || out != expected {