diff --git a/src/project/types/website/website-navigation-md.ts b/src/project/types/website/website-navigation-md.ts
index 5bc23ebeab4..999d615e692 100644
--- a/src/project/types/website/website-navigation-md.ts
+++ b/src/project/types/website/website-navigation-md.ts
@@ -301,7 +301,16 @@ const sidebarContentsHandler = (context: NavigationPipelineContext) => {
       );
       for (let i = 0; i < sidebarSectionEls.length; i++) {
         const sectionEl = sidebarSectionEls[i] as Element;
-        const target = sectionEl.getAttribute("data-bs-target");
+        // When a section has an href, the .sidebar-item-text element is a
+        // plain link without data-bs-target. Fall back to the sibling
+        // .sidebar-item-toggle, which always carries data-bs-target.
+        let target = sectionEl.getAttribute("data-bs-target");
+        if (!target) {
+          const toggleEl = sectionEl.parentElement?.querySelector(
+            ".sidebar-item-toggle",
+          );
+          target = toggleEl?.getAttribute("data-bs-target") ?? null;
+        }
 
         if (target) {
           const id = target.slice(1);
diff --git a/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/.gitignore b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..075b2542afb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/.quarto/
diff --git a/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/_quarto.yml b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/_quarto.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..13e67f0ceb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/_quarto.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+project:
+  type: website
+
+website:
+  title: "Sidebar section href test"
+  sidebar:
+    contents:
+      - index.qmd
+      - section: "**More info**"
+        href: more-info.qmd
+        contents:
+          - child.qmd
+
+format:
+  html:
+    theme: default
diff --git a/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/child.qmd b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/child.qmd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c2ef4f26091
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/child.qmd
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: "Child page"
+---
+
+Child page.
diff --git a/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/index.qmd b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/index.qmd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..17325bcf838
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/index.qmd
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: "Home"
+---
+
+Home page.
diff --git a/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/more-info.qmd b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/more-info.qmd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b398bcba2b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/docs/websites/website-sidebar-section-href/more-info.qmd
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: "More info"
+---
+
+More info page.
diff --git a/tests/smoke/website/website-sidebar-section-href.test.ts b/tests/smoke/website/website-sidebar-section-href.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c5ca6dc3d55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/smoke/website/website-sidebar-section-href.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+ * website-sidebar-section-href.test.ts
+ *
+ * Tests that markdown in sidebar section titles is rendered correctly when
+ * the section has an href. Without the fix, the .sidebar-item-text element
+ * is a plain link without data-bs-target, so the markdown substitution in
+ * sidebarContentsHandler() fails to recover the sectionId and leaves raw
+ * markdown (e.g. **More info**) in the DOM instead of rendering it.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2020-2025 Posit Software, PBC
+ */
+
+import { docs } from "../../utils.ts";
+import { join } from "../../../src/deno_ral/path.ts";
+import { existsSync } from "../../../src/deno_ral/fs.ts";
+import { testQuartoCmd } from "../../test.ts";
+import {
+  ensureFileRegexMatches,
+  ensureHtmlElements,
+  noErrorsOrWarnings,
+} from "../../verify.ts";
+
+const renderDir = docs("websites/website-sidebar-section-href");
+const outDir = join(Deno.cwd(), renderDir, "_site");
+
+testQuartoCmd(
+  "render",
+  [renderDir],
+  [
+    noErrorsOrWarnings,
+    // Markdown in section title must be rendered: **More info** → <strong>
+    ensureHtmlElements(
+      join(outDir, "index.html"),
+      [".sidebar-item-text strong"],
+    ),
+    // Raw markdown asterisks must not appear in the sidebar HTML
+    ensureFileRegexMatches(
+      join(outDir, "index.html"),
+      [],
+      [/sidebar-item-text[^<]*\*\*/],
+    ),
+  ],
+  {
+    teardown: async () => {
+      if (existsSync(outDir)) {
+        await Deno.remove(outDir, { recursive: true });
+      }
+    },
+  },
+);