diff --git a/packages/gitbook/src/components/hooks/useScrollPage.ts b/packages/gitbook/src/components/hooks/useScrollPage.ts
index d6b2e0366..d57a6da5f 100644
--- a/packages/gitbook/src/components/hooks/useScrollPage.ts
+++ b/packages/gitbook/src/components/hooks/useScrollPage.ts
@@ -6,16 +6,33 @@ import { useHash } from './useHash';
 import { usePrevious } from './usePrevious';
 
 /**
- * Scroll the page to the hash or reset scroll to the top.
- * Only triggered while navigating in the app, not for initial load.
+ * Handles scroll behavior when the URL hash changes during client-side navigation.
+ *
+ * - If a hash is present, scrolls smoothly to the corresponding element.
+ * - If the hash is removed, scrolls back to the top of the page.
+ *
+ * This hook only reacts to in-app navigations. It avoids interfering with:
+ * - The browser's native hash scrolling on initial load
+ * - Scroll-to-text fragments (which cannot be reliably detected)
  */
 export function useScrollPage() {
     const hash = useHash();
     const previousHash = usePrevious(hash);
 
     React.useEffect(() => {
+        // If there's no hash:
+        // - On initial load, `previousHash` is undefined.
+        //   We do nothing to avoid overriding:
+        //   • Native browser hash scrolling
+        //   • Scroll-to-text fragments (undetectable)
+        if (previousHash === undefined) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         if (hash) {
-            if (previousHash !== undefined && previousHash !== hash) {
+            // Only scroll if this is not the initial render
+            // and the hash actually changed.
+            if (previousHash !== hash) {
                 const element = document.getElementById(hash);
                 if (element) {
                     element.scrollIntoView({
@@ -27,13 +44,8 @@ export function useScrollPage() {
             return;
         }
 
-        // On initial load `previousHash` can be undefined,
-        // but if the URL contains a fragment (hash),
-        // we don't override native anchor scrolling
-        if (!previousHash && window.location.hash) {
-            return;
-        }
-
+        // If the hash was removed during navigation,
+        // reset scroll position to the top.
         window.scrollTo(0, 0);
     }, [hash, previousHash]);
 }