diff --git a/packages/remix-react/components.tsx b/packages/remix-react/components.tsx
index a50e98dc9d7..9cb83a4fe17 100644
--- a/packages/remix-react/components.tsx
+++ b/packages/remix-react/components.tsx
@@ -296,6 +296,11 @@ function usePrefetchBehavior(
  */
 let NavLink = React.forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, RemixNavLinkProps>(
   ({ to, prefetch = "none", ...props }, forwardedRef) => {
+    // `location` is the unaltered href we will render in the <a> tag for absolute URLs
+    let location = typeof to === "string" ? to : createPath(to);
+    let isAbsolute =
+      /^[a-z+]+:\/\//i.test(location) || location.startsWith("//");
+
     let href = useHref(to);
     let [shouldPrefetch, prefetchHandlers] = usePrefetchBehavior(
       prefetch,
@@ -305,11 +310,13 @@ let NavLink = React.forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, RemixNavLinkProps>(
       <>
         <RouterNavLink
           ref={forwardedRef}
-          to={to}
+          to={location}
           {...props}
           {...prefetchHandlers}
         />
-        {shouldPrefetch ? <PrefetchPageLinks page={href} /> : null}
+        {shouldPrefetch && !isAbsolute ? (
+          <PrefetchPageLinks page={href} />
+        ) : null}
       </>
     );
   }
@@ -325,8 +332,8 @@ export { NavLink };
  */
 let Link = React.forwardRef<HTMLAnchorElement, RemixLinkProps>(
   ({ to, prefetch = "none", children, ...props }, forwardedRef) => {
+    // `location` is the unaltered href we will render in the <a> tag for absolute URLs
     let location = typeof to === "string" ? to : createPath(to);
-
     let isAbsolute =
       /^[a-z+]+:\/\//i.test(location) || location.startsWith("//");