diff --git a/packages/kit/src/runtime/client/client.js b/packages/kit/src/runtime/client/client.js
index 5b241f0bd8b3..729be9d19174 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/runtime/client/client.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/runtime/client/client.js
@@ -306,7 +306,9 @@ export async function start(_app, _target, hydrate) {
 	if (hydrate) {
 		await _hydrate(target, hydrate);
 	} else {
-		goto(app.hash ? decodeURIComponent(location.href) : location.href, { replaceState: true });
+		goto(app.hash ? decode_hash(new URL(location.href)) : location.href, {
+			replaceState: true
+		});
 	}
 
 	_start_router();
@@ -2407,7 +2409,7 @@ function _start_router() {
 			// (surprisingly!) mutates `current.url`, allowing us to
 			// detect it and trigger a navigation
 			if (current.url.hash === location.hash) {
-				navigate({ type: 'goto', url: new URL(decodeURIComponent(current.url.href)) });
+				navigate({ type: 'goto', url: decode_hash(current.url) });
 			}
 		}
 	});
@@ -2801,6 +2803,17 @@ function clone_page(page) {
 	};
 }
 
+/**
+ * @param {URL} url
+ * @returns {URL}
+ */
+function decode_hash(url) {
+	const new_url = new URL(url);
+	// Safari, for some reason, does change # to %23, when entered through the address bar
+	new_url.hash = decodeURIComponent(url.hash);
+	return new_url;
+}
+
 if (DEV) {
 	// Nasty hack to silence harmless warnings the user can do nothing about
 	const console_warn = console.warn;
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/apps/hash-based-routing/test/test.js b/packages/kit/test/apps/hash-based-routing/test/test.js
index 6743639fec2c..23666ed5e562 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/apps/hash-based-routing/test/test.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/apps/hash-based-routing/test/test.js
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@ test.describe('hash based navigation', () => {
 	});
 
 	test('navigation works with URL encoded characters', async ({ page }) => {
-		await page.goto('/#/%23test');
+		await page.goto('/?query=%23abc#/%23test');
 		await expect(page.locator('p')).toHaveText('home');
 		// hashchange event
-		await page.goto('/#/a%23test');
+		await page.goto('/?query=%23abc#/a%23test');
 		await expect(page.locator('p')).toHaveText('a');
 	});