diff --git a/news/changelog-1.6.md b/news/changelog-1.6.md
index cfaf20aa07..63375c9565 100644
--- a/news/changelog-1.6.md
+++ b/news/changelog-1.6.md
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ All changes included in 1.6:
 
 ## `dashboard` Format
 
+- ([#9411](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/9411)): Fix issue with history navigation in dashboards and external links.
 - ([#10340](https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/10340)): Build card title correctly in the presence of equations and other markup.
 
 ## `html` Format
diff --git a/src/resources/formats/dashboard/quarto-dashboard.js b/src/resources/formats/dashboard/quarto-dashboard.js
index b24b74a08f..6b771b9bb7 100644
--- a/src/resources/formats/dashboard/quarto-dashboard.js
+++ b/src/resources/formats/dashboard/quarto-dashboard.js
@@ -145,8 +145,20 @@ window.document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function (_event) {
   const linkEls = document.querySelectorAll(
     ".quarto-dashboard-content a:not(.nav-link)"
   );
+  const currentUrl = new URL(window.location.href);
   for (const linkEl of linkEls) {
     const linkHref = linkEl.getAttribute("href");
+    // https://github.com/quarto-dev/quarto-cli/issues/9411
+    // only add the event listener for internal links
+    try {
+      const linkUrl = new URL(linkHref);
+      if (linkUrl.origin !== currentUrl.origin) {
+        continue;
+      }
+    } catch (_e) {
+      // if the link is not a valid URL, skip it
+      continue;
+    }
     linkEl.addEventListener("click", () => {
       QuartoDashboardUtils.showPage(linkHref);
       return false;