diff --git a/src/shared/components/Sidebar.tsx b/src/shared/components/Sidebar.tsx
index ed2188055e..45e7af3231 100644
--- a/src/shared/components/Sidebar.tsx
+++ b/src/shared/components/Sidebar.tsx
@@ -431,6 +431,7 @@ export default function Sidebar({
       <Link
         key={item.href}
         href={item.href}
+        prefetch={false}
         onClick={onClose}
         className={className}
         {...sharedProps}
@@ -497,6 +498,7 @@ export default function Sidebar({
         <div className={cn("py-3", collapsed ? "px-2" : "px-4")}>
           <Link
             href="/home"
+            prefetch={false}
             className={cn("flex items-center", collapsed ? "justify-center" : "gap-2.5")}
           >
             <div className="flex items-center justify-center size-8 rounded bg-linear-to-br from-[#E54D5E] to-[#C93D4E] shrink-0">
diff --git a/tests/e2e/navigation.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/navigation.spec.ts
index 0f23b14bff..76db5db458 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/navigation.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/navigation.spec.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { test, expect } from "@playwright/test";
+import { gotoDashboardRoute } from "./helpers/dashboardAuth";
 
 test.describe("Dashboard Navigation", () => {
   test("redirects unauthenticated user to /login", async ({ page }) => {
@@ -10,6 +11,30 @@ test.describe("Dashboard Navigation", () => {
     expect(url).toMatch(/\/(login|dashboard)/);
   });
 
+  test("does not prefetch dashboard routes and preserves client navigation", async ({ page }) => {
+    const speculativeRequests: string[] = [];
+
+    page.on("request", (request) => {
+      const headers = request.headers();
+      const isRscPrefetch =
+        headers.rsc === "1" &&
+        (headers["next-router-prefetch"] === "1" ||
+          headers.purpose?.toLowerCase().includes("prefetch") ||
+          headers["sec-purpose"]?.toLowerCase().includes("prefetch"));
+
+      if (isRscPrefetch) speculativeRequests.push(request.url());
+    });
+
+    await gotoDashboardRoute(page, "/home");
+    await expect(page.getByRole("link", { name: /providers/i }).first()).toBeVisible();
+    await page.waitForTimeout(500);
+
+    expect(speculativeRequests).toEqual([]);
+
+    await page.getByRole("link", { name: /providers/i }).first().click();
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/dashboard\/providers/);
+  });
+
   test("login page renders with form elements", async ({ page }) => {
     await page.goto("/login");
     // Should show some form of authentication UI
diff --git a/tests/unit/sidebar-prefetch-policy-8281.test.ts b/tests/unit/sidebar-prefetch-policy-8281.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..02c170cc71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/sidebar-prefetch-policy-8281.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import test from "node:test";
+
+const SIDEBAR = "src/shared/components/Sidebar.tsx";
+
+test("#8281: dashboard navigation opts out of automatic route prefetch", async () => {
+  const source = await readFile(SIDEBAR, "utf8");
+
+  const internalLink = source.match(/<Link\s+[\s\S]*?href=\{item\.href\}[\s\S]*?>/);
+  assert.ok(internalLink, "expected the sidebar's internal navigation Link");
+  assert.match(internalLink[0], /prefetch=\{false\}/);
+
+  const logoLink = source.match(/<Link\s+href="\/home"[\s\S]*?>/);
+  assert.ok(logoLink, "expected the sidebar logo home Link");
+  assert.match(logoLink[0], /prefetch=\{false\}/);
+});