diff --git a/docs/guide/asset-handling.md b/docs/guide/asset-handling.md
index 2f62569d..7d2ce57a 100644
--- a/docs/guide/asset-handling.md
+++ b/docs/guide/asset-handling.md
@@ -26,25 +26,6 @@ Assets placed in `public` will be copied to the root of the output directory as-
 
 Note that you should reference files placed in `public` using root absolute path - for example, `public/icon.png` should always be referenced in source code as `/icon.png`.
 
-There is one exception to this: if you have an HTML page in `public` and link to it from the main site, the router will yield a 404 by default. To get around this, VitePress provides a `pathname://` protocol which allows you to link to another page in the same domain as if the link is external. Compare these two links:
-
-- [/pure.html](/pure.html)
-- <pathname:///pure.html>
-
-Note that `pathname://` is only supported in Markdown links. Also, `pathname://` will open the link in a new tab by default. You can use `target="_self"` instead to open it in the same tab:
-
-**Input**
-
-```md
-[Link to pure.html](/pure.html){target="_self"}
-
-<!-- there is no need to specify pathname:// if the target is explicitly specified -->
-```
-
-**Output**
-
-[Link to pure.html](/pure.html){target="_self"}
-
 ## Base URL
 
 If your site is deployed to a non-root URL, you will need to set the `base` option in `.vitepress/config.js`. For example, if you plan to deploy your site to `https://foo.github.io/bar/`, then `base` should be set to `'/bar/'` (it should always start and end with a slash).
diff --git a/docs/guide/routing.md b/docs/guide/routing.md
index f5fa9bff..641807e4 100644
--- a/docs/guide/routing.md
+++ b/docs/guide/routing.md
@@ -93,7 +93,33 @@ You can use both absolute and relative paths when linking between pages. Note th
 [Getting Started](./getting-started.html)
 ```
 
-Learn more about linking to assets such images in [Asset Handling](asset-handling).
+Learn more about linking to assets such images in [Asset Handling](./asset-handling).
+
+### Linking to Non-VitePress Pages
+
+If you want to link to a page in your site that is not generated by VitePress, you'll either need to use the full URL (opens in a new tab) or explicitly specify the target:
+
+**Input**
+
+```md
+[Link to pure.html](/pure.html){target="_self"}
+```
+
+**Output**
+
+[Link to pure.html](/pure.html){target="_self"}
+
+::: tip Note
+
+In Markdown links, the `base` is automatically prepended to the URL. This means that if you want to link to a page outside of your base, you'd need something like `../../pure.html` in the link (resolved relative to the current page by the browser).
+
+Alternatively, you can directly use the anchor tag syntax:
+
+```md
+<a href="/pure.html" target="_self">Link to pure.html</a>
+```
+
+:::
 
 ## Generating Clean URL
 
diff --git a/src/client/app/utils.ts b/src/client/app/utils.ts
index 9935284d..5028483c 100644
--- a/src/client/app/utils.ts
+++ b/src/client/app/utils.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,11 @@ export function joinPath(base: string, path: string) {
   return `${base}${path}`.replace(/\/+/g, '/')
 }
 
+/**
+ * Append base to internal (non-relative) urls
+ */
 export function withBase(path: string) {
-  return EXTERNAL_URL_RE.test(path) || path.startsWith('.')
+  return EXTERNAL_URL_RE.test(path) || !path.startsWith('/')
     ? path
     : joinPath(siteDataRef.value.base, path)
 }
diff --git a/src/client/theme-default/support/utils.ts b/src/client/theme-default/support/utils.ts
index e5fa8bca..3d05e9f5 100644
--- a/src/client/theme-default/support/utils.ts
+++ b/src/client/theme-default/support/utils.ts
@@ -1,25 +1,18 @@
 import { withBase } from 'vitepress'
 import { useData } from '../composables/data'
-import { isExternal, PATHNAME_PROTOCOL_RE } from '../../shared'
+import { isExternal } from '../../shared'
 
 export function throttleAndDebounce(fn: () => void, delay: number): () => void {
   let timeoutId: NodeJS.Timeout
   let called = false
 
   return () => {
-    if (timeoutId) {
-      clearTimeout(timeoutId)
-    }
+    if (timeoutId) clearTimeout(timeoutId)
 
     if (!called) {
       fn()
-      called = true
-      setTimeout(() => {
-        called = false
-      }, delay)
-    } else {
-      timeoutId = setTimeout(fn, delay)
-    }
+      ;(called = true) && setTimeout(() => (called = false), delay)
+    } else timeoutId = setTimeout(fn, delay)
   }
 }
 
@@ -28,9 +21,7 @@ export function ensureStartingSlash(path: string): string {
 }
 
 export function normalizeLink(url: string): string {
-  if (isExternal(url)) {
-    return url.replace(PATHNAME_PROTOCOL_RE, '')
-  }
+  if (isExternal(url)) return url
 
   const { site } = useData()
   const { pathname, search, hash } = new URL(url, 'http://a.com')
diff --git a/src/node/markdown/plugins/link.ts b/src/node/markdown/plugins/link.ts
index 220071a1..9aa29c96 100644
--- a/src/node/markdown/plugins/link.ts
+++ b/src/node/markdown/plugins/link.ts
@@ -4,12 +4,7 @@
 
 import type MarkdownIt from 'markdown-it'
 import { URL } from 'url'
-import {
-  EXTERNAL_URL_RE,
-  PATHNAME_PROTOCOL_RE,
-  isExternal,
-  type MarkdownEnv
-} from '../../shared'
+import { EXTERNAL_URL_RE, isExternal, type MarkdownEnv } from '../../shared'
 
 const indexRE = /(^|.*\/)index.md(#?.*)$/i
 
@@ -38,7 +33,7 @@ export const linkPlugin = (
         if (url.replace(EXTERNAL_URL_RE, '').startsWith('//localhost:')) {
           pushLink(url, env)
         }
-        hrefAttr[1] = url.replace(PATHNAME_PROTOCOL_RE, '')
+        hrefAttr[1] = url
       } else {
         if (
           // internal anchor links
diff --git a/src/shared/shared.ts b/src/shared/shared.ts
index 3215cb49..9bc2de00 100644
--- a/src/shared/shared.ts
+++ b/src/shared/shared.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ export type {
 } from '../../types/shared'
 
 export const EXTERNAL_URL_RE = /^[a-z]+:/i
-export const PATHNAME_PROTOCOL_RE = /^pathname:\/\//
 export const APPEARANCE_KEY = 'vitepress-theme-appearance'
 export const HASH_RE = /#.*$/
 export const EXT_RE = /(index)?\.(md|html)$/