diff --git a/.changeset/forty-lions-give.md b/.changeset/forty-lions-give.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1c0228231662
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/forty-lions-give.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': patch
+---
+
+[breaking] resolve relative urls from the target page when using load's fetch
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/runtime/client/client.js b/packages/kit/src/runtime/client/client.js
index fc28a23103d1..3962f7d92f66 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/runtime/client/client.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/runtime/client/client.js
@@ -578,11 +578,44 @@ export function create_client({ target, session, base, trailing_slash }) {
 					node.uses.stuff = true;
 					return { ...stuff };
 				},
-				fetch(resource, info) {
-					const requested = typeof resource === 'string' ? resource : resource.url;
-					add_dependency(requested);
+				async fetch(resource, init) {
+					let requested;
+
+					if (typeof resource === 'string') {
+						requested = resource;
+					} else {
+						requested = resource.url;
+
+						// we're not allowed to modify the received `Request` object, so in order
+						// to fixup relative urls we create a new equivalent `init` object instead
+						init = {
+							// the request body must be consumed in memory until browsers
+							// implement streaming request bodies and/or the body getter
+							body:
+								resource.method === 'GET' || resource.method === 'HEAD'
+									? undefined
+									: await resource.blob(),
+							cache: resource.cache,
+							credentials: resource.credentials,
+							headers: resource.headers,
+							integrity: resource.integrity,
+							keepalive: resource.keepalive,
+							method: resource.method,
+							mode: resource.mode,
+							redirect: resource.redirect,
+							referrer: resource.referrer,
+							referrerPolicy: resource.referrerPolicy,
+							signal: resource.signal,
+							...init
+						};
+					}
+
+					// we must fixup relative urls so they are resolved from the target page
+					const normalized = new URL(requested, url).href;
+					add_dependency(normalized);
 
-					return started ? fetch(resource, info) : initial_fetch(resource, info);
+					// prerendered pages may be served from any origin, so `initial_fetch` urls shouldn't be normalized
+					return started ? fetch(normalized, init) : initial_fetch(requested, init);
 				},
 				status: status ?? null,
 				error: error ?? null
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/fetch-relative.json.js b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/fetch-relative.json.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6cabf09828a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/fetch-relative.json.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+export function get() {
+	return {
+		body: {
+			answer: 42
+		}
+	};
+}
+
+/** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').RequestHandler} */
+export async function post({ request }) {
+	return {
+		body: {
+			question: await request.text()
+		}
+	};
+}
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/fetch-relative.svelte b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/fetch-relative.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4418226688cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/fetch-relative.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+<script context="module">
+	/** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').Load} */
+	export async function load({ fetch }) {
+		const get = await fetch('fetch-relative.json');
+		const post = await fetch('fetch-relative.json', { method: 'post', body: '?' });
+
+		return {
+			props: { ...(await get.json()), ...(await post.json()) }
+		};
+	}
+</script>
+
+<script>
+	export let answer;
+	export let question;
+</script>
+
+<h1>the answer is {answer}</h1>
+<h2>the question was {question}</h2>
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/index.svelte b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/index.svelte
index 5cffb7e2a2ff..181c11684ed2 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/index.svelte
+++ b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/src/routes/load/index.svelte
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 <h1>bar == {foo}?</h1>
 
 <a href="/load/fetch-request">fetch request</a>
+<a href="/load/fetch-relative">fetch relative</a>
 <a href="/load/fetch-credentialed">fetch credentialed</a>
 <a href="/load/fetch-headers">fetch headers</a>
 <a href="/load/large-response">large response</a>
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/test/test.js b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/test/test.js
index faae28cd8396..1ca8f14574c7 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/test/test.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/test/test.js
@@ -1311,6 +1311,13 @@ test.describe.parallel('Load', () => {
 		expect(await page.textContent('h1')).toBe('the answer is 42');
 	});
 
+	test('fetch resolves urls relatively to the target page', async ({ page, clicknav }) => {
+		await page.goto('/load');
+		await clicknav('[href="/load/fetch-relative"]');
+		expect(await page.textContent('h1')).toBe('the answer is 42');
+		expect(await page.textContent('h2')).toBe('the question was ?');
+	});
+
 	test('handles large responses', async ({ page }) => {
 		await page.goto('/load');