diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b9570b30a5..eb2ac27ccf 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -393,6 +393,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "crypto-common",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "displaydoc"
+version = "0.2.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "97369cbbc041bc366949bc74d34658d6cda5621039731c6310521892a3a20ae0"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.112",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "dunce"
 version = "1.0.5"
@@ -755,12 +766,114 @@ dependencies = [
  "tower-service",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "icu_collections"
+version = "2.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4c6b649701667bbe825c3b7e6388cb521c23d88644678e83c0c4d0a621a34b43"
+dependencies = [
+ "displaydoc",
+ "potential_utf",
+ "yoke",
+ "zerofrom",
+ "zerovec",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "icu_locale_core"
+version = "2.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "edba7861004dd3714265b4db54a3c390e880ab658fec5f7db895fae2046b5bb6"
+dependencies = [
+ "displaydoc",
+ "litemap",
+ "tinystr",
+ "writeable",
+ "zerovec",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "icu_normalizer"
+version = "2.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5f6c8828b67bf8908d82127b2054ea1b4427ff0230ee9141c54251934ab1b599"
+dependencies = [
+ "icu_collections",
+ "icu_normalizer_data",
+ "icu_properties",
+ "icu_provider",
+ "smallvec",
+ "zerovec",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "icu_normalizer_data"
+version = "2.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7aedcccd01fc5fe81e6b489c15b247b8b0690feb23304303a9e560f37efc560a"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "icu_properties"
+version = "2.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "020bfc02fe870ec3a66d93e677ccca0562506e5872c650f893269e08615d74ec"
+dependencies = [
+ "icu_collections",
+ "icu_locale_core",
+ "icu_properties_data",
+ "icu_provider",
+ "zerotrie",
+ "zerovec",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "icu_properties_data"
+version = "2.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "616c294cf8d725c6afcd8f55abc17c56464ef6211f9ed59cccffe534129c77af"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "icu_provider"
+version = "2.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "85962cf0ce02e1e0a629cc34e7ca3e373ce20dda4c4d7294bbd0bf1fdb59e614"
+dependencies = [
+ "displaydoc",
+ "icu_locale_core",
+ "writeable",
+ "yoke",
+ "zerofrom",
+ "zerotrie",
+ "zerovec",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ident_case"
 version = "1.0.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b9e0384b61958566e926dc50660321d12159025e767c18e043daf26b70104c39"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "idna"
+version = "1.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3b0875f23caa03898994f6ddc501886a45c7d3d62d04d2d90788d47be1b1e4de"
+dependencies = [
+ "idna_adapter",
+ "smallvec",
+ "utf8_iter",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "idna_adapter"
+version = "1.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3acae9609540aa318d1bc588455225fb2085b9ed0c4f6bd0d9d5bcd86f1a0344"
+dependencies = [
+ "icu_normalizer",
+ "icu_properties",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ignore"
 version = "0.4.25"
@@ -868,6 +981,12 @@ version = "0.11.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "df1d3c3b53da64cf5760482273a98e575c651a67eec7f77df96b5b642de8f039"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "litemap"
+version = "0.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6373607a59f0be73a39b6fe456b8192fcc3585f602af20751600e974dd455e77"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lock_api"
 version = "0.4.14"
@@ -1006,6 +1125,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "mdbook-preprocessor",
  "mdbook-renderer",
  "mdbook-summary",
+ "pulldown-cmark-to-cmark",
  "regex",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
@@ -1014,6 +1134,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "toml",
  "topological-sort",
  "tracing",
+ "url",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1416,6 +1537,15 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8b870d8c151b6f2fb93e84a13146138f05d02ed11c7e7c54f8826aaaf7c9f184"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "potential_utf"
+version = "0.1.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b73949432f5e2a09657003c25bca5e19a0e9c84f8058ca374f49e0ebe605af77"
+dependencies = [
+ "zerovec",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ppv-lite86"
 version = "0.2.21"
@@ -1822,6 +1952,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.60.2",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "stable_deref_trait"
+version = "1.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6ce2be8dc25455e1f91df71bfa12ad37d7af1092ae736f3a6cd0e37bc7810596"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "string_cache"
 version = "0.8.9"
@@ -1906,6 +2042,17 @@ version = "1.0.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0bf256ce5efdfa370213c1dabab5935a12e49f2c58d15e9eac2870d3b4f27263"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "synstructure"
+version = "0.13.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "728a70f3dbaf5bab7f0c4b1ac8d7ae5ea60a4b5549c8a5914361c99147a709d2"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.112",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tempfile"
 version = "3.24.0"
@@ -1969,6 +2116,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tinystr"
+version = "0.8.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "42d3e9c45c09de15d06dd8acf5f4e0e399e85927b7f00711024eb7ae10fa4869"
+dependencies = [
+ "displaydoc",
+ "zerovec",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio"
 version = "1.48.0"
@@ -2228,6 +2385,18 @@ version = "0.2.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b4ac048d71ede7ee76d585517add45da530660ef4390e49b098733c6e897f254"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "url"
+version = "2.5.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ff67a8a4397373c3ef660812acab3268222035010ab8680ec4215f38ba3d0eed"
+dependencies = [
+ "form_urlencoded",
+ "idna",
+ "percent-encoding",
+ "serde",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "utf-8"
 version = "0.7.6"
@@ -2240,6 +2409,12 @@ version = "0.1.8"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "1292c0d970b54115d14f2492fe0170adf21d68a1de108eebc51c1df4f346a091"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "utf8_iter"
+version = "1.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b6c140620e7ffbb22c2dee59cafe6084a59b5ffc27a8859a5f0d494b5d52b6be"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "utf8parse"
 version = "0.2.2"
@@ -2405,6 +2580,12 @@ version = "0.46.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "f17a85883d4e6d00e8a97c586de764dabcc06133f7f1d55dce5cdc070ad7fe59"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "writeable"
+version = "0.6.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9edde0db4769d2dc68579893f2306b26c6ecfbe0ef499b013d731b7b9247e0b9"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "xml5ever"
 version = "0.17.0"
@@ -2420,6 +2601,29 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "xtask"
 version = "0.0.0"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "yoke"
+version = "0.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "72d6e5c6afb84d73944e5cedb052c4680d5657337201555f9f2a16b7406d4954"
+dependencies = [
+ "stable_deref_trait",
+ "yoke-derive",
+ "zerofrom",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "yoke-derive"
+version = "0.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b659052874eb698efe5b9e8cf382204678a0086ebf46982b79d6ca3182927e5d"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.112",
+ "synstructure",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zerocopy"
 version = "0.8.31"
@@ -2440,6 +2644,60 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.112",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "zerofrom"
+version = "0.1.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "50cc42e0333e05660c3587f3bf9d0478688e15d870fab3346451ce7f8c9fbea5"
+dependencies = [
+ "zerofrom-derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zerofrom-derive"
+version = "0.1.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d71e5d6e06ab090c67b5e44993ec16b72dcbaabc526db883a360057678b48502"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.112",
+ "synstructure",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zerotrie"
+version = "0.2.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2a59c17a5562d507e4b54960e8569ebee33bee890c70aa3fe7b97e85a9fd7851"
+dependencies = [
+ "displaydoc",
+ "yoke",
+ "zerofrom",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zerovec"
+version = "0.11.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6c28719294829477f525be0186d13efa9a3c602f7ec202ca9e353d310fb9a002"
+dependencies = [
+ "yoke",
+ "zerofrom",
+ "zerovec-derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zerovec-derive"
+version = "0.11.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "eadce39539ca5cb3985590102671f2567e659fca9666581ad3411d59207951f3"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.112",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zmij"
 version = "1.0.6"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 9643917443..a4673061a3 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ notify-debouncer-mini = "0.7.0"
 opener = "0.8.3"
 pathdiff = "0.2.3"
 pulldown-cmark = { version = "0.13.0", default-features = false, features = ["html"] } # Do not update, part of the public api.
+pulldown-cmark-to-cmark = "22.0.0"
 regex = "1.12.2"
 select = "0.6.1"
 semver = "1.0.27"
@@ -67,6 +68,7 @@ topological-sort = "0.2.2"
 tower-http = "0.6.8"
 tracing = "0.1.44"
 tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.22", features = ["env-filter"] }
+url = "2.5.8"
 walkdir = "2.5.0"
 
 [package]
diff --git a/crates/mdbook-driver/Cargo.toml b/crates/mdbook-driver/Cargo.toml
index 92bc19f96c..aff44c4548 100644
--- a/crates/mdbook-driver/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/mdbook-driver/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ mdbook-markdown.workspace = true
 mdbook-preprocessor.workspace = true
 mdbook-renderer.workspace = true
 mdbook-summary.workspace = true
+pulldown-cmark-to-cmark.workspace = true
 regex.workspace = true
 serde.workspace = true
 serde_json.workspace = true
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ tempfile.workspace = true
 toml.workspace = true
 topological-sort.workspace = true
 tracing.workspace = true
+url.workspace = true
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/mdbook-driver/src/builtin_preprocessors/index.rs b/crates/mdbook-driver/src/builtin_preprocessors/index.rs
index 7d9d22ce97..75041931a9 100644
--- a/crates/mdbook-driver/src/builtin_preprocessors/index.rs
+++ b/crates/mdbook-driver/src/builtin_preprocessors/index.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 use anyhow::Result;
 use mdbook_core::book::{Book, BookItem};
 use mdbook_core::static_regex;
+use mdbook_markdown::pulldown_cmark::{Event, LinkType, Tag};
+use mdbook_markdown::{MarkdownOptions, new_cmark_parser};
 use mdbook_preprocessor::{Preprocessor, PreprocessorContext};
-use std::path::Path;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use tracing::warn;
+use url::{ParseError, Url};
 
 /// A preprocessor for converting file name `README.md` to `index.md` since
 /// `README.md` is the de facto index file in markdown-based documentation.
@@ -30,6 +33,7 @@ impl Preprocessor for IndexPreprocessor {
         let source_dir = ctx.root.join(&ctx.config.book.src);
         book.for_each_mut(|section: &mut BookItem| {
             if let BookItem::Chapter(ref mut ch) = *section {
+                // Rename README files to `index.md`
                 if let Some(ref mut path) = ch.path {
                     if is_readme_file(&path) {
                         let mut index_md = source_dir.join(path.with_file_name("index.md"));
@@ -40,6 +44,9 @@ impl Preprocessor for IndexPreprocessor {
                         path.set_file_name("index.md");
                     }
                 }
+                // Fix inline links to README files
+                let markdown_options = get_markdown_options(ctx);
+                ch.content = fix_readme_links(&ch.content, &markdown_options).unwrap_or_default();
             }
         });
 
@@ -78,6 +85,52 @@ fn is_readme_file<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> bool {
     )
 }
 
+fn get_markdown_options(ctx: &PreprocessorContext) -> MarkdownOptions {
+    let html_config = ctx.config.html_config().unwrap_or_default();
+    let mut markdown_options = MarkdownOptions::default();
+    markdown_options.smart_punctuation = html_config.smart_punctuation;
+    markdown_options.definition_lists = html_config.definition_lists;
+    markdown_options.admonitions = html_config.admonitions;
+    markdown_options
+}
+
+fn fix_readme_links(content: &str, markdown_options: &MarkdownOptions) -> Result<String> {
+    let mut buf = String::with_capacity(content.len());
+
+    let events = new_cmark_parser(content, markdown_options).map(|e| match e {
+        Event::Start(Tag::Link {
+            link_type:
+                link_type @ (LinkType::Inline
+                | LinkType::Reference
+                | LinkType::Collapsed
+                | LinkType::Shortcut),
+            dest_url,
+            title,
+            id,
+        }) if matches!(
+            Url::parse(&dest_url),
+            Err(ParseError::RelativeUrlWithoutBase)
+        ) =>
+        {
+            Event::Start(Tag::Link {
+                link_type: link_type,
+                dest_url: {
+                    let mut path = PathBuf::from(dest_url.as_ref());
+                    if is_readme_file(&path) {
+                        path.set_file_name("index.md");
+                    }
+                    path.to_string_lossy().into_owned().into()
+                },
+                title,
+                id,
+            })
+        }
+        e => e,
+    });
+
+    Ok(pulldown_cmark_to_cmark::cmark(events, &mut buf).map(|_| buf)?)
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -102,4 +155,105 @@ mod tests {
         let path = "path/to/README-README.md";
         assert!(!is_readme_file(path));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    fn internal_readme_links_are_converted_to_index() {
+        let opts = MarkdownOptions::default();
+
+        let md = "[inline](path/to/README.md)";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "[inline](path/to\\index.md)"
+        );
+
+        let md = "[reference][link]\n\n[link]: path/to/README.md";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "[reference][link]\n\n[link]: path/to\\index.md"
+        );
+
+        let md = "[collapsed][]\n\n[collapsed]: path/to/README.md";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "[collapsed][]\n\n[collapsed]: path/to\\index.md"
+        );
+
+        let md = "[shortcut]\n\n[shortcut]: path/to/README.md";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "[shortcut]\n\n[shortcut]: path/to\\index.md"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
+    fn internal_readme_links_are_converted_to_index() {
+        let opts = MarkdownOptions::default();
+
+        let md = "[inline](path/to/README.md)";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "[inline](path/to/index.md)"
+        );
+
+        let md = "[reference][link]\n\n[link]: path/to/README.md";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "[reference][link]\n\n[link]: path/to/index.md"
+        );
+
+        let md = "[collapsed][]\n\n[collapsed]: path/to/README.md";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "[collapsed][]\n\n[collapsed]: path/to/index.md"
+        );
+
+        let md = "[shortcut]\n\n[shortcut]: path/to/README.md";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "[shortcut]\n\n[shortcut]: path/to/index.md"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn other_links_are_not_converted_to_index() {
+        let opts = MarkdownOptions::default();
+
+        let md = "[inline](https://example.com)";
+        assert_eq!(fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(), md);
+
+        let md = "[inline]()";
+        assert_eq!(fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(), md);
+
+        let md = "[reference][link]\n\n[link]: https://example.com";
+        assert_eq!(fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(), md);
+
+        let md = "[reference][unknown]";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "\\[reference\\]\\[unknown\\]"
+        );
+
+        let md = "[collapsed][]\n\n[collapsed]: https://example.com";
+        assert_eq!(fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(), md);
+
+        let md = "[collapsed][]";
+        assert_eq!(
+            fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(),
+            "\\[collapsed\\]\\[\\]"
+        );
+
+        let md = "[shortcut]\n\n[shortcut]: https://example.com";
+        assert_eq!(fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(), md);
+
+        let md = "[shortcut]";
+        assert_eq!(fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(), "\\[shortcut\\]");
+
+        let md = "<https://example.com>";
+        assert_eq!(fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(), md);
+
+        let md = "<user@example.com>";
+        assert_eq!(fix_readme_links(md, &opts).unwrap(), md);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/examples/remove-emphasis/mdbook-remove-emphasis/Cargo.toml b/examples/remove-emphasis/mdbook-remove-emphasis/Cargo.toml
index d98f7f45c4..79956c16fd 100644
--- a/examples/remove-emphasis/mdbook-remove-emphasis/Cargo.toml
+++ b/examples/remove-emphasis/mdbook-remove-emphasis/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ publish = false
 [dependencies]
 mdbook-preprocessor.workspace = true
 pulldown-cmark = { workspace = true, default-features = false }
-pulldown-cmark-to-cmark = "22.0.0"
+pulldown-cmark-to-cmark.workspace = true
 serde_json.workspace = true
 
 [[bin]]