diff --git a/browse/src/url-validation.ts b/browse/src/url-validation.ts
index ddac0d5ac7..dcd592ca9f 100644
--- a/browse/src/url-validation.ts
+++ b/browse/src/url-validation.ts
@@ -14,14 +14,15 @@ export const BLOCKED_METADATA_HOSTS = new Set([
 ]);
 
 /**
- * IPv6 prefixes to block (CIDR-style). Any address starting with these
- * hex prefixes is rejected. Covers the full ULA range (fc00::/7 = fc00:: and fd00::).
+ * IPv6 prefixes to block (CIDR-style). ULA addresses cover fc00::/7 and
+ * link-local addresses cover fe80::/10.
  */
-const BLOCKED_IPV6_PREFIXES = ['fc', 'fd'];
+const BLOCKED_IPV6_PREFIXES = ['fc', 'fd', 'fe8', 'fe9', 'fea', 'feb'];
 
 /**
  * Check if an IPv6 address falls within a blocked prefix range.
- * Handles the full ULA range (fc00::/7), not just the exact literal fd00::.
+ * Handles the full ULA range (fc00::/7) and link-local range (fe80::/10),
+ * not just exact literals like fd00:: or fe80::1.
  * Only matches actual IPv6 addresses (must contain ':'), not hostnames
  * like fd.example.com or fcustomer.com.
  */
@@ -90,9 +91,7 @@ async function resolvesToBlockedIp(hostname: string): Promise<boolean> {
     const v6Check = resolve6(hostname).then(
       (addresses) => addresses.some(addr => {
         const normalized = addr.toLowerCase();
-        return BLOCKED_METADATA_HOSTS.has(normalized) || isBlockedIpv6(normalized) ||
-          // fe80::/10 is link-local — always block (covers all fe80:: addresses)
-          normalized.startsWith('fe80:');
+        return BLOCKED_METADATA_HOSTS.has(normalized) || isBlockedIpv6(normalized);
       }),
       () => false, // ENODATA / ENOTFOUND — no AAAA records, not a risk
     );
diff --git a/browse/test/url-validation.test.ts b/browse/test/url-validation.test.ts
index f6e52175bf..5f28b2d7ca 100644
--- a/browse/test/url-validation.test.ts
+++ b/browse/test/url-validation.test.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ describe('validateNavigationUrl', () => {
     await expect(validateNavigationUrl('http://[fc00::]/')).rejects.toThrow(/cloud metadata/i);
   });
 
+  it('blocks direct IPv6 link-local addresses', async () => {
+    await expect(validateNavigationUrl('http://[fe80::2]/')).rejects.toThrow(/cloud metadata/i);
+  });
+
   it('does not block hostnames starting with fd (e.g. fd.example.com)', async () => {
     await expect(validateNavigationUrl('https://fd.example.com/')).resolves.toBeUndefined();
   });