diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem.tsx b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem.tsx
index 5c8aa9751f..80659c6d0e 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem.tsx
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem.tsx
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ function NavLink({
   activeClassName?: string;
   prependBaseUrlToHref?: string;
 } & ComponentProps<'a'>) {
+  // TODO all this seems hacky
+  // {to: 'version'} should probably be forbidden, in favor of {to: '/version'}
+  const toUrl = useBaseUrl(to);
   const activeBaseUrl = useBaseUrl(activeBasePath);
   const normalizedHref = useBaseUrl(href, {forcePrependBaseUrl: true});
   return (
@@ -41,7 +44,7 @@ function NavLink({
         : {
             isNavLink: true,
             activeClassName,
-            to,
+            to: toUrl,
             ...(activeBasePath || activeBaseRegex
               ? {
                   isActive: (_match, location) =>
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/src/client/exports/Link.tsx b/packages/docusaurus/src/client/exports/Link.tsx
index 345db0df12..5f85cdff18 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus/src/client/exports/Link.tsx
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/src/client/exports/Link.tsx
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import {NavLink, Link as RRLink} from 'react-router-dom';
 import isInternalUrl from './isInternalUrl';
 import ExecutionEnvironment from './ExecutionEnvironment';
 import {useLinksCollector} from '../LinksCollector';
-import {useBaseUrlUtils} from './useBaseUrl';
 
 declare global {
   interface Window {
@@ -38,20 +37,13 @@ function Link({
   'data-noBrokenLinkCheck': noBrokenLinkCheck,
   ...props
 }: Props): JSX.Element {
-  const {withBaseUrl} = useBaseUrlUtils();
   const linksCollector = useLinksCollector();
 
   // IMPORTANT: using to or href should not change anything
   // For example, MDX links will ALWAYS give us the href props
   // Using one prop or the other should not be used to distinguish
   // internal links (/docs/myDoc) from external links (https://github.com)
-  const targetLinkUnprefixed = to || href;
-
-  // Automatically apply base url in links
-  const targetLink =
-    typeof targetLinkUnprefixed !== 'undefined'
-      ? withBaseUrl(targetLinkUnprefixed)
-      : undefined;
+  const targetLink = to || href;
 
   const isInternal = isInternalUrl(targetLink);
   const preloaded = useRef(false);