diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/app/index.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/app/index.ts
index 7fbe7fa4ce40..ec799011907b 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/app/index.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/app/index.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import type {
 	SSRElement,
 	SSRManifest,
 } from '../../@types/astro.js';
-import { createI18nMiddleware } from '../../i18n/middleware.js';
+import { createI18nMiddleware, i18nPipelineHook } from '../../i18n/middleware.js';
 import type { SinglePageBuiltModule } from '../build/types.js';
 import { getSetCookiesFromResponse } from '../cookies/index.js';
 import { consoleLogDestination } from '../logger/console.js';
@@ -169,8 +169,7 @@ export class App {
 			let i18nMiddleware = createI18nMiddleware(
 				this.#manifest.i18n,
 				this.#manifest.base,
-				this.#manifest.trailingSlash,
-				this.#manifest.routes.map((route) => route.routeData)
+				this.#manifest.trailingSlash
 			);
 			if (i18nMiddleware) {
 				if (mod.onRequest) {
@@ -180,6 +179,7 @@ export class App {
 				} else {
 					this.#pipeline.setMiddlewareFunction(i18nMiddleware);
 				}
+				this.#pipeline.onBeforeRenderRoute(i18nPipelineHook);
 			} else {
 				if (mod.onRequest) {
 					this.#pipeline.setMiddlewareFunction(mod.onRequest as MiddlewareEndpointHandler);
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/build/generate.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/build/generate.ts
index 961d78ed4865..02837cf69cc8 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/build/generate.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/build/generate.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import {
 	removeLeadingForwardSlash,
 	removeTrailingForwardSlash,
 } from '../../core/path.js';
-import { createI18nMiddleware } from '../../i18n/middleware.js';
+import { createI18nMiddleware, i18nPipelineHook } from '../../i18n/middleware.js';
 import { runHookBuildGenerated } from '../../integrations/index.js';
 import { getOutputDirectory, isServerLikeOutput } from '../../prerender/utils.js';
 import { PAGE_SCRIPT_ID } from '../../vite-plugin-scripts/index.js';
@@ -279,8 +279,7 @@ async function generatePage(
 	const i18nMiddleware = createI18nMiddleware(
 		pipeline.getManifest().i18n,
 		pipeline.getManifest().base,
-		pipeline.getManifest().trailingSlash,
-		pipeline.getManifest().routes.map((route) => route.routeData)
+		pipeline.getManifest().trailingSlash
 	);
 	if (config.experimental.i18n && i18nMiddleware) {
 		if (onRequest) {
@@ -290,6 +289,7 @@ async function generatePage(
 		} else {
 			pipeline.setMiddlewareFunction(i18nMiddleware);
 		}
+		pipeline.onBeforeRenderRoute(i18nPipelineHook);
 	} else if (onRequest) {
 		pipeline.setMiddlewareFunction(onRequest as MiddlewareEndpointHandler);
 	}
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/pipeline.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/pipeline.ts
index 3d33146c6fa9..bd203b437415 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/pipeline.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/pipeline.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@ type EndpointResultHandler = (
 	result: Response
 ) => Promise<Response> | Response;
 
+type PipelineHooks = {
+	before: PipelineHookFunction[];
+};
+
+export type PipelineHookFunction = (ctx: RenderContext, mod: ComponentInstance | undefined) => void;
+
 /**
  * This is the basic class of a pipeline.
  *
@@ -23,6 +29,9 @@ type EndpointResultHandler = (
 export class Pipeline {
 	env: Environment;
 	#onRequest?: MiddlewareEndpointHandler;
+	#hooks: PipelineHooks = {
+		before: [],
+	};
 	/**
 	 * The handler accepts the *original* `Request` and result returned by the endpoint.
 	 * It must return a `Response`.
@@ -75,6 +84,9 @@ export class Pipeline {
 		renderContext: RenderContext,
 		componentInstance: ComponentInstance | undefined
 	): Promise<Response> {
+		for (const hook of this.#hooks.before) {
+			hook(renderContext, componentInstance);
+		}
 		const result = await this.#tryRenderRoute(
 			renderContext,
 			this.env,
@@ -158,4 +170,12 @@ export class Pipeline {
 				throw new Error(`Couldn't find route of type [${renderContext.route.type}]`);
 		}
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Store a function that will be called before starting the rendering phase.
+	 * @param fn
+	 */
+	onBeforeRenderRoute(fn: PipelineHookFunction) {
+		this.#hooks.before.push(fn);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/i18n/middleware.ts b/packages/astro/src/i18n/middleware.ts
index 017f062ba040..ff467ecb3131 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/i18n/middleware.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/i18n/middleware.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 import { appendForwardSlash, joinPaths } from '@astrojs/internal-helpers/path';
 import type { MiddlewareEndpointHandler, RouteData, SSRManifest } from '../@types/astro.js';
 import type { RouteInfo } from '../core/app/types.js';
+import type { PipelineHookFunction } from '../core/pipeline.js';
+
+const routeDataSymbol = Symbol.for('astro.routeData');
 
 // Checks if the pathname doesn't have any locale, exception for the defaultLocale, which is ignored on purpose
 function checkIsLocaleFree(pathname: string, locales: string[]): boolean {
@@ -16,34 +19,30 @@ function checkIsLocaleFree(pathname: string, locales: string[]): boolean {
 export function createI18nMiddleware(
 	i18n: SSRManifest['i18n'],
 	base: SSRManifest['base'],
-	trailingSlash: SSRManifest['trailingSlash'],
-	routes: RouteData[]
+	trailingSlash: SSRManifest['trailingSlash']
 ): MiddlewareEndpointHandler | undefined {
 	if (!i18n) {
 		return undefined;
 	}
 
-	// we get all the routes that aren't pages
-	const nonPagesRoutes = routes.filter((route) => {
-		return route.type !== 'page';
-	});
-
 	return async (context, next) => {
 		if (!i18n) {
 			return await next();
 		}
 
-		const url = context.url;
-		// We get the pathname
-		// Internally, Astro removes the `base` from the manifest data of the routes.
-		// We have to make sure that we remove it from the pathname of the request
-		let astroPathname = url.pathname;
-		if (astroPathname.startsWith(base) && base !== '/') {
-			astroPathname = astroPathname.slice(base.length);
+		const routeData = Reflect.get(context.request, routeDataSymbol);
+		if (routeData) {
+			// If the route we're processing is not a page, then we ignore it
+			if (
+				(routeData as RouteData).type !== 'page' &&
+				(routeData as RouteData).type !== 'fallback'
+			) {
+				return await next();
+			}
 		}
 
+		const url = context.url;
 		const { locales, defaultLocale, fallback } = i18n;
-
 		const response = await next();
 
 		if (response instanceof Response) {
@@ -58,11 +57,6 @@ export function createI18nMiddleware(
 					headers: response.headers,
 				});
 			} else if (i18n.routingStrategy === 'prefix-always') {
-				// We want to do this check only here, because `prefix-other-locales` assumes that non localized folder are valid
-				if (shouldSkipRoute(astroPathname, nonPagesRoutes, locales)) {
-					return await next();
-				}
-
 				if (url.pathname === base + '/' || url.pathname === base) {
 					if (trailingSlash === 'always') {
 						return context.redirect(`${appendForwardSlash(joinPaths(base, i18n.defaultLocale))}`);
@@ -105,21 +99,8 @@ export function createI18nMiddleware(
 }
 
 /**
- * Checks whether a route should be skipped from the middleware logic. A route should be not be skipped when:
- * - it's the home
- * - it contains any locale
- * - the pathname belongs to a route that is not a page
+ * This pipeline hook attaches a `RouteData` object to the `Request`
  */
-function shouldSkipRoute(pathname: string, pageRoutes: RouteData[], locales: string[]) {
-	if (!pathname.length || pathname === '/') {
-		return false;
-	}
-
-	if (locales.some((locale) => pathname.includes(`/${locale}`))) {
-		return false;
-	}
-
-	return pageRoutes.some((route) => {
-		return !route.pattern.test(pathname);
-	});
-}
+export const i18nPipelineHook: PipelineHookFunction = (ctx) => {
+	Reflect.set(ctx.request, routeDataSymbol, ctx.route);
+};
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/vite-plugin-astro-server/route.ts b/packages/astro/src/vite-plugin-astro-server/route.ts
index 616015563272..7468f881907a 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/vite-plugin-astro-server/route.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/vite-plugin-astro-server/route.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import {
 import { createRequest } from '../core/request.js';
 import { matchAllRoutes } from '../core/routing/index.js';
 import { isPage, resolveIdToUrl } from '../core/util.js';
-import { createI18nMiddleware } from '../i18n/middleware.js';
+import { createI18nMiddleware, i18nPipelineHook } from '../i18n/middleware.js';
 import { getSortedPreloadedMatches } from '../prerender/routing.js';
 import { isServerLikeOutput } from '../prerender/utils.js';
 import { PAGE_SCRIPT_ID } from '../vite-plugin-scripts/index.js';
@@ -280,8 +280,7 @@ export async function handleRoute({
 		const i18Middleware = createI18nMiddleware(
 			config.experimental.i18n,
 			config.base,
-			config.trailingSlash,
-			manifestData.routes
+			config.trailingSlash
 		);
 
 		if (i18Middleware) {
@@ -290,6 +289,7 @@ export async function handleRoute({
 			} else {
 				pipeline.setMiddlewareFunction(i18Middleware);
 			}
+			pipeline.onBeforeRenderRoute(i18nPipelineHook);
 		} else if (onRequest) {
 			pipeline.setMiddlewareFunction(onRequest);
 		}