diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/html.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/html.ts
index 9737dcb3a9e9b7..6b2bb3a46b82ae 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/html.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/html.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import {
   getHash,
   isDataUrl,
   isExternalUrl,
+  isUrl,
   normalizePath,
   processSrcSet,
 } from '../utils'
@@ -811,11 +812,13 @@ export function buildHtmlPlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
         })
 
         result = result.replace(publicAssetUrlRE, (_, fileHash) => {
-          return normalizePath(
-            toOutputPublicAssetFilePath(
-              getPublicAssetFilename(fileHash, config)!,
-            ),
+          const publicAssetPath = toOutputPublicAssetFilePath(
+            getPublicAssetFilename(fileHash, config)!,
           )
+
+          return isUrl(publicAssetPath)
+            ? publicAssetPath
+            : normalizePath(publicAssetPath)
         })
 
         if (chunk && canInlineEntry) {
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
index c12e429c51529d..1337fda226f526 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
@@ -217,6 +217,15 @@ function testCaseInsensitiveFS() {
   return fs.existsSync(CLIENT_ENTRY.replace('client.mjs', 'cLiEnT.mjs'))
 }
 
+export function isUrl(path: string): boolean {
+  try {
+    new URL(path)
+    return true
+  } catch {
+    return false
+  }
+}
+
 export const isCaseInsensitiveFS = testCaseInsensitiveFS()
 
 export const isWindows = os.platform() === 'win32'
diff --git a/playground/assets/__tests__/url-base/url-base-assets.spec.ts b/playground/assets/__tests__/url-base/url-base-assets.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..775f8c15caddc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/assets/__tests__/url-base/url-base-assets.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,235 @@
+import { beforeAll, describe, expect, test } from 'vitest'
+import {
+  browserLogs,
+  findAssetFile,
+  getBg,
+  getColor,
+  isBuild,
+  page,
+  viteConfig,
+} from '~utils'
+
+const urlAssetMatch = isBuild
+  ? /http:\/\/localhost:4173\/other-assets\/asset-\w{8}\.png/
+  : '/nested/asset.png'
+
+const iconMatch = '/icon.png'
+
+const absoluteIconMatch = isBuild
+  ? /http:\/\/localhost:4173\/.*\/icon-\w{8}\.png/
+  : '/nested/icon.png'
+
+const absolutePublicIconMatch = isBuild
+  ? /http:\/\/localhost:4173\/icon\.png/
+  : '/icon.png'
+
+test('should have no 404s', () => {
+  browserLogs.forEach((msg) => {
+    expect(msg).not.toMatch('404')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('raw references from /public', () => {
+  test('load raw js from /public', async () => {
+    expect(await page.textContent('.raw-js')).toMatch('[success]')
+  })
+
+  test('load raw css from /public', async () => {
+    expect(await getColor('.raw-css')).toBe('red')
+  })
+})
+
+test('import-expression from simple script', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.import-expression')).toMatch(
+    '[success][success]',
+  )
+})
+
+describe('asset imports from js', () => {
+  test('relative', async () => {
+    expect(await page.textContent('.asset-import-relative')).toMatch(
+      urlAssetMatch,
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('absolute', async () => {
+    expect(await page.textContent('.asset-import-absolute')).toMatch(
+      urlAssetMatch,
+    )
+  })
+
+  test('from /public', async () => {
+    expect(await page.textContent('.public-import')).toMatch(
+      absolutePublicIconMatch,
+    )
+  })
+})
+
+describe('css url() references', () => {
+  test('fonts', async () => {
+    expect(
+      await page.evaluate(() => document.fonts.check('700 32px Inter')),
+    ).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  test('relative', async () => {
+    const bg = await getBg('.css-url-relative')
+    expect(bg).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+  })
+
+  test('image-set relative', async () => {
+    const imageSet = await getBg('.css-image-set-relative')
+    imageSet.split(', ').forEach((s) => {
+      expect(s).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+    })
+  })
+
+  test('image-set without the url() call', async () => {
+    const imageSet = await getBg('.css-image-set-without-url-call')
+    imageSet.split(', ').forEach((s) => {
+      expect(s).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+    })
+  })
+
+  test('image-set with var', async () => {
+    const imageSet = await getBg('.css-image-set-with-var')
+    imageSet.split(', ').forEach((s) => {
+      expect(s).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+    })
+  })
+
+  test('image-set with mix', async () => {
+    const imageSet = await getBg('.css-image-set-mix-url-var')
+    imageSet.split(', ').forEach((s) => {
+      expect(s).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+    })
+  })
+
+  test('relative in @import', async () => {
+    expect(await getBg('.css-url-relative-at-imported')).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+  })
+
+  test('absolute', async () => {
+    expect(await getBg('.css-url-absolute')).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+  })
+
+  test('from /public', async () => {
+    expect(await getBg('.css-url-public')).toMatch(iconMatch)
+  })
+
+  test('multiple urls on the same line', async () => {
+    const bg = await getBg('.css-url-same-line')
+    expect(bg).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+    expect(bg).toMatch(iconMatch)
+  })
+
+  test('aliased', async () => {
+    const bg = await getBg('.css-url-aliased')
+    expect(bg).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+  })
+})
+
+describe.runIf(isBuild)('index.css URLs', () => {
+  let css: string
+  beforeAll(() => {
+    const base = viteConfig ? viteConfig?.testConfig?.baseRoute : ''
+    css = findAssetFile(/index.*\.css$/, base, 'other-assets')
+  })
+
+  test('use base URL for asset URL', () => {
+    expect(css).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+  })
+
+  test('preserve postfix query/hash', () => {
+    expect(css).toMatch('woff2?#iefix')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('image', () => {
+  test('srcset', async () => {
+    const img = await page.$('.img-src-set')
+    const srcset = await img.getAttribute('srcset')
+    srcset.split(', ').forEach((s) => {
+      expect(s).toMatch(
+        isBuild
+          ? /other-assets\/asset-\w{8}\.png \dx/
+          : /\.\/nested\/asset\.png \dx/,
+      )
+    })
+  })
+})
+
+describe('svg fragments', () => {
+  // 404 is checked already, so here we just ensure the urls end with #fragment
+  test('img url', async () => {
+    const img = await page.$('.svg-frag-img')
+    expect(await img.getAttribute('src')).toMatch(/svg#icon-clock-view$/)
+  })
+
+  test('via css url()', async () => {
+    const bg = await page.evaluate(
+      () => getComputedStyle(document.querySelector('.icon')).backgroundImage,
+    )
+    expect(bg).toMatch(/svg#icon-clock-view"\)$/)
+  })
+
+  test('from js import', async () => {
+    const img = await page.$('.svg-frag-import')
+    expect(await img.getAttribute('src')).toMatch(/svg#icon-heart-view$/)
+  })
+})
+
+test('?raw import', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.raw')).toMatch('SVG')
+})
+
+test('?url import', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.url')).toMatch(
+    isBuild
+      ? /http:\/\/localhost:4173\/other-assets\/foo-\w{8}\.js/
+      : '/foo.js',
+  )
+})
+
+test('?url import on css', async () => {
+  const txt = await page.textContent('.url-css')
+  expect(txt).toMatch(
+    isBuild
+      ? /http:\/\/localhost:4173\/other-assets\/icons-\w{8}\.css/
+      : '/css/icons.css',
+  )
+})
+
+test('new URL(..., import.meta.url)', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.import-meta-url')).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+})
+
+test('new URL(`${dynamic}`, import.meta.url)', async () => {
+  const dynamic1 = await page.textContent('.dynamic-import-meta-url-1')
+  expect(dynamic1).toMatch(absoluteIconMatch)
+  const dynamic2 = await page.textContent('.dynamic-import-meta-url-2')
+  expect(dynamic2).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+})
+
+test('new URL(`non-existent`, import.meta.url)', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.non-existent-import-meta-url')).toMatch(
+    '/non-existent',
+  )
+})
+
+test('inline style test', async () => {
+  expect(await getBg('.inline-style')).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+  expect(await getBg('.style-url-assets')).toMatch(urlAssetMatch)
+})
+
+test('html import word boundary', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.obj-import-express')).toMatch(
+    'ignore object import prop',
+  )
+  expect(await page.textContent('.string-import-express')).toMatch('no load')
+})
+
+test('relative path in html asset', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.relative-js')).toMatch('hello')
+  expect(await getColor('.relative-css')).toMatch('red')
+})
diff --git a/playground/assets/__tests__/url-base/vite.config.js b/playground/assets/__tests__/url-base/vite.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..4ad6a7066edad3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/assets/__tests__/url-base/vite.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export { default } from '../../vite.config-url-base'
diff --git a/playground/assets/package.json b/playground/assets/package.json
index beec899e36bd68..47e127261142e7 100644
--- a/playground/assets/package.json
+++ b/playground/assets/package.json
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
     "preview:relative-base": "vite --config ./vite.config-relative-base.js preview",
     "dev:runtime-base": "vite --config ./vite.config-runtime-base.js dev",
     "build:runtime-base": "vite --config ./vite.config-runtime-base.js build",
-    "preview:runtime-base": "vite --config ./vite.config-runtime-base.js preview"
+    "preview:runtime-base": "vite --config ./vite.config-runtime-base.js preview",
+    "dev:url-base": "vite --config ./vite.config-url-base.js dev",
+    "build:url-base": "vite --config ./vite.config-url-base.js build",
+    "preview:url-base": "vite --config ./vite.config-url-base.js preview"
   }
 }
diff --git a/playground/assets/vite.config-url-base.js b/playground/assets/vite.config-url-base.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..bed30f8d1b2e73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/assets/vite.config-url-base.js
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
+import baseConfig from './vite.config.js'
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  ...baseConfig,
+  base: 'http://localhost:4173/',
+  build: {
+    ...baseConfig.build,
+    outDir: 'dist/url-base',
+    watch: null,
+    minify: false,
+    assetsInlineLimit: 0,
+    rollupOptions: {
+      output: {
+        entryFileNames: 'entries/[name].js',
+        chunkFileNames: 'chunks/[name]-[hash].js',
+        assetFileNames: 'other-assets/[name]-[hash][extname]',
+      },
+    },
+  },
+  testConfig: {
+    baseRoute: '/url-base/',
+  },
+})