diff --git a/__tests__/unit/shared/shared.test.ts b/__tests__/unit/shared/shared.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..77826db3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/__tests__/unit/shared/shared.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import { mergeHead, type HeadConfig } from 'shared/shared'
+
+describe('shared/shared', () => {
+  describe('mergeHead', () => {
+    test('replaces meta tags with the same key in place', () => {
+      expect(
+        mergeHead(
+          [
+            ['meta', { property: 'og:image', content: '/site.png' }],
+            ['meta', { name: 'keywords', content: 'site' }]
+          ],
+          [['meta', { content: '/page.png', property: 'og:image' }]]
+        )
+      ).toEqual([
+        ['meta', { content: '/page.png', property: 'og:image' }],
+        ['meta', { name: 'keywords', content: 'site' }]
+      ])
+    })
+
+    test('ignores content when keying meta tags', () => {
+      const head: HeadConfig[] = [
+        ['meta', { content: 'a', name: 'name1' }],
+        ['meta', { content: 'a', name: 'name2' }]
+      ]
+      expect(mergeHead(head)).toEqual(head)
+    })
+
+    test('keys any element by id regardless of attribute order', () => {
+      expect(
+        mergeHead(
+          [
+            ['meta', { name: 'author', content: 'a', id: 'author-a' }],
+            ['meta', { name: 'author', content: 'b', id: 'author-b' }],
+            ['script', { id: 'sw' }, 'old']
+          ],
+          [
+            ['meta', { id: 'author-a', name: 'author', content: 'c' }],
+            ['script', { id: 'sw' }, 'new']
+          ]
+        )
+      ).toEqual([
+        ['meta', { id: 'author-a', name: 'author', content: 'c' }],
+        ['meta', { name: 'author', content: 'b', id: 'author-b' }],
+        ['script', { id: 'sw' }, 'new']
+      ])
+    })
+
+    test('appends elements without a key', () => {
+      const head: HeadConfig[] = [
+        ['link', { rel: 'stylesheet', href: '/a.css' }],
+        ['link', { rel: 'stylesheet', href: '/a.css' }]
+      ]
+      expect(mergeHead(head, head)).toEqual([...head, ...head])
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/docs/en/reference/frontmatter-config.md b/docs/en/reference/frontmatter-config.md
index 8960bfe2..42f57f4a 100644
--- a/docs/en/reference/frontmatter-config.md
+++ b/docs/en/reference/frontmatter-config.md
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ description: VitePress
 
 - Type: `HeadConfig[]`
 
-Specify extra head tags to be injected for the current page. Will be appended after head tags injected by site-level config.
+Specify extra head tags to be injected for the current page. They are [merged](./site-config#head) with the head tags injected by site-level config.
 
 ```yaml
 ---
diff --git a/docs/en/reference/site-config.md b/docs/en/reference/site-config.md
index a9d9c4f1..d79eb637 100644
--- a/docs/en/reference/site-config.md
+++ b/docs/en/reference/site-config.md
@@ -248,6 +248,13 @@ type HeadConfig =
   | [string, Record<string, string>, string]
 ```
 
+Head entries from the site config, [locale config](../guide/i18n), [directory-level config](#directory-level-overrides), [frontmatter](./frontmatter-config#head) and [`transformHead`](#transformhead) are merged in that order. A later entry replaces an earlier one with the same key instead of being appended:
+
+- Any element with an `id` attribute is keyed by its `id`.
+- A `meta` element without an `id` is keyed by its first attribute other than `content` (e.g. `name`, `property`, `http-equiv`) and that attribute's value.
+
+Other elements are never deduplicated. To render multiple `meta` tags that would share a key, like several `<meta name="author">`, give each of them a unique `id`.
+
 #### Example: Adding a favicon
 
 ```ts
diff --git a/src/shared/shared.ts b/src/shared/shared.ts
index e7fda629..2b50151b 100644
--- a/src/shared/shared.ts
+++ b/src/shared/shared.ts
@@ -198,25 +198,23 @@ function createTitleTemplate(
 
 export function mergeHead(...headArrays: HeadConfig[][]): HeadConfig[] {
   const merged: HeadConfig[] = []
-  const metaKeyMap = new Map<string, number>()
+  const keyMap = new Map<string, number>()
 
   for (const current of headArrays) {
     for (const tag of current) {
-      const [type, attrs] = tag
-      const keyAttr = Object.entries(attrs)[0]
+      const key = getHeadKey(tag)
 
-      if (type !== 'meta' || !keyAttr) {
+      if (key == null) {
         merged.push(tag)
         continue
       }
 
-      const key = `${keyAttr[0]}=${keyAttr[1]}`
-      const existingIndex = metaKeyMap.get(key)
+      const existingIndex = keyMap.get(key)
 
       if (existingIndex != null) {
         merged[existingIndex] = tag // replace existing tag
       } else {
-        metaKeyMap.set(key, merged.length)
+        keyMap.set(key, merged.length)
         merged.push(tag)
       }
     }
@@ -225,6 +223,16 @@ export function mergeHead(...headArrays: HeadConfig[][]): HeadConfig[] {
   return merged
 }
 
+// any element is keyed by its `id`; a meta tag without one is keyed by its
+// first attribute other than `content` (e.g. `name`, `property`, `http-equiv`)
+function getHeadKey([type, attrs]: HeadConfig): string | undefined {
+  if (attrs.id) return `id=${attrs.id}`
+  if (type !== 'meta') return
+  for (const name in attrs) {
+    if (name !== 'content') return `${name}=${attrs[name]}`
+  }
+}
+
 export function sanitizeFileName(name: string): string {
   const match = DRIVE_LETTER_REGEX.exec(name)
   const driveLetter = match ? match[0] : ''