diff --git a/core/Controller/NavigationController.php b/core/Controller/NavigationController.php
index db1d67cc77843..0996b41042ed5 100644
--- a/core/Controller/NavigationController.php
+++ b/core/Controller/NavigationController.php
@@ -115,7 +115,8 @@ private function generateETag(array $navigation): string {
 	 */
 	private function rewriteToAbsoluteUrls(array $navigation): array {
 		foreach ($navigation as &$entry) {
-			if (!str_starts_with($entry['href'], $this->urlGenerator->getBaseUrl())) {
+			/* If parse_url finds no host it means the URL is not absolute */
+			if (!isset(\parse_url($entry['href'])['host'])) {
 				$entry['href'] = $this->urlGenerator->getAbsoluteURL($entry['href']);
 			}
 			if (!str_starts_with($entry['icon'], $this->urlGenerator->getBaseUrl())) {