diff --git a/src/browser/Frame.zig b/src/browser/Frame.zig
index 1b7342d6f..7f7588d81 100644
--- a/src/browser/Frame.zig
+++ b/src/browser/Frame.zig
@@ -894,6 +894,20 @@ fn scheduleNavigationWithArena(originator: *Frame, arena: Allocator, request_url
     };
 
     const session = target._session;
+
+    // Re-navigating to the exact current URL is only a reload when the URL
+    // has no fragment. With a fragment it's a fragment navigation per the
+    // HTML "navigate" steps (url equals the document's URL excluding
+    // fragments and url's fragment is non-null): no reload, and since the
+    // fragment didn't change, no hashchange and no new history entry either.
+    if (!opts.force and
+        std.mem.eql(u8, target.url, resolved_url) and
+        std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, resolved_url, '#') != null)
+    {
+        session.releaseArena(arena);
+        return;
+    }
+
     // Short-circuit only true fragment-only navigations (same path/query, different
     // fragment). Identical URLs fall through and trigger a real reload.
     const is_fragment_navigation = !std.mem.eql(u8, target.url, resolved_url) and URL.eqlDocument(target.url, resolved_url);
diff --git a/src/browser/tests/window/location.html b/src/browser/tests/window/location.html
index 55e721d8d..17e38a748 100644
--- a/src/browser/tests/window/location.html
+++ b/src/browser/tests/window/location.html
@@ -68,3 +68,24 @@
   location.hash = "";
   testing.expectEqual("", location.hash);
 </script>
+
+<script id=location_hash_no_change>
+  // Per the Location hash setter, assigning a value that doesn't change the
+  // fragment must not navigate at all: re-assigning "" on a fragment-less URL
+  // must not schedule a same-URL reload, and re-assigning the current
+  // fragment must be a no-op too.
+  const stable_href = location.href;
+  location.hash = "";
+  location.hash = "";
+  testing.expectEqual(stable_href, location.href);
+
+  location.hash = "#same";
+  const with_fragment = location.href;
+  location.hash = "#same";
+  location.hash = "same";
+  testing.expectEqual(with_fragment, location.href);
+  testing.expectEqual("#same", location.hash);
+
+  location.hash = "";
+  testing.expectEqual(stable_href, location.href);
+</script>
diff --git a/src/browser/webapi/Location.zig b/src/browser/webapi/Location.zig
index ceed9f807..85a118365 100644
--- a/src/browser/webapi/Location.zig
+++ b/src/browser/webapi/Location.zig
@@ -101,21 +101,30 @@ pub fn setSearch(_: *const Location, search: []const u8, frame: *Frame) !void {
 }
 
 pub fn setHash(_: *const Location, hash: []const u8, frame: *Frame) !void {
-    const normalized_hash = blk: {
-        if (hash.len == 0) {
-            const old_url = frame.url;
+    const old_url = frame.url;
+    const base_end = std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, old_url, '#') orelse old_url.len;
+    // Includes the leading '#'; empty when the URL has no fragment.
+    const old_fragment = old_url[base_end..];
 
-            break :blk if (std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, old_url, '#')) |index|
-                old_url[0..index]
-            else
-                old_url;
-        } else if (hash[0] == '#')
-            break :blk hash
-        else
-            break :blk try std.fmt.allocPrint(frame.call_arena, "#{s}", .{hash});
+    const normalized_hash: []const u8 = blk: {
+        if (hash.len == 0) {
+            break :blk "";
+        } else if (hash[0] == '#') {
+            break :blk hash;
+        }
+        break :blk try std.fmt.allocPrint(frame.call_arena, "#{s}", .{hash});
     };
 
-    return frame.scheduleNavigation(normalized_hash, .{
+    // Per the Location hash setter, when the fragment doesn't change no
+    // navigation happens at all — in particular `location.hash = ""` on a
+    // fragment-less URL must not turn into a same-URL reload.
+    if (std.mem.eql(u8, old_fragment, normalized_hash)) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    const target_url = if (normalized_hash.len == 0) old_url[0..base_end] else normalized_hash;
+
+    return frame.scheduleNavigation(target_url, .{
         .reason = .script,
         .kind = .{ .replace = null },
     }, .{ .script = frame });