@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { allVersions, allVersionKeys } from '@/versions/lib/all-versions'
 import nonEnterpriseDefaultVersion from '@/versions/lib/non-enterprise-default-version'
-import { getPathWithoutLanguage } from '@/frame/lib/path-utils'
+import { getPathWithoutLanguage, getPathWithoutVersion } from '@/frame/lib/path-utils'
 
 // detect-version.ts rejects cookie values outside allVersionKeys.
 const alternateVersions = allVersionKeys.filter((v) => v !== nonEnterpriseDefaultVersion)
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ const NOTHING: VersionPreference = { vary: false }
 // explicit /free-pro-team@latest prefix before this point.
 //
 // resolvedPath builds the versioned candidate so renamed articles resolve in one hop.
+//
+// Versionless URLs for articles without Free/Pro/Team resolve to their first version, and the
+// cookie still overrides that default. The follow-up request names a version, so it cannot loop.
 export function getVersionPreference(
   requestPath: string,
   resolvedPath: string,
@@ -50,11 +53,15 @@ export function getVersionPreference(
   // External redirects are not ours to version.
   if (resolvedPath.includes('://')) return NOTHING
 
-  if (pathNamesAVersion(requestPath) || pathNamesAVersion(resolvedPath)) return NOTHING
+  if (pathNamesAVersion(requestPath)) return NOTHING
+
+  // getPathWithoutVersion keeps deprecated and legacy version segments, which still win.
+  const candidate = getPathWithoutVersion(resolvedPath)
+  if (pathNamesAVersion(candidate)) return NOTHING
 
   // Language-less paths read a slug as the language and miss the language-prefixed pages lookup.
-  const language = resolvedPath.split('/')[1]
-  const withoutLanguage = getPathWithoutLanguage(resolvedPath)
+  const language = candidate.split('/')[1]
+  const withoutLanguage = getPathWithoutLanguage(candidate)
 
   // pages keys omit .md, but .md requests must redirect to .md versioned articles.
   const extension = withoutLanguage.endsWith('.md') ? '.md' : ''
 
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ const GHES = `enterprise-server@${latest}`
 
 // pages stands in for req.context.pages, keyed by full versioned permalink.
 // /actions/versioned exists in all three versions; /actions/fpt-only exists only unversioned.
+// /actions/no-fpt has no Free/Pro/Team version, like much of /admin.
 const pages = Object.fromEntries(
   [
     '/en/actions/versioned',
@@ -16,6 +17,8 @@ const pages = Object.fromEntries(
     '/en/actions/fpt-only',
     '/en/actions/ghec-only',
     `/en/${GHEC}/actions/ghec-only`,
+    `/en/${GHEC}/actions/no-fpt`,
+    `/en/${GHES}/actions/no-fpt`,
     '/ja/actions/versioned',
     `/ja/${GHEC}/actions/versioned`,
     '/en',
@@ -126,6 +129,36 @@ describe('getVersionPreference', () => {
     ).toEqual({ vary: true, redirectTo: `/en/${GHEC}/actions/versioned.md` })
   })
 
+  // Versionless URLs for articles without Free/Pro/Team resolve to their first version.
+  // The cookie still overrides that default because the reader named no version.
+  test('overrides the first-version fallback for articles without Free/Pro/Team', () => {
+    expect(
+      getVersionPreference('/en/actions/no-fpt', `/en/${GHEC}/actions/no-fpt`, GHES, pages),
+    ).toEqual({ vary: true, redirectTo: `/en/${GHES}/actions/no-fpt` })
+  })
+
+  test('varies on the first-version fallback without a cookie', () => {
+    expect(
+      getVersionPreference('/en/actions/no-fpt', `/en/${GHEC}/actions/no-fpt`, undefined, pages),
+    ).toEqual({ vary: true })
+  })
+
+  test('leaves an explicitly versioned URL alone when the target is versioned too', () => {
+    const path = `/en/${GHEC}/actions/no-fpt`
+    expect(getVersionPreference(path, path, GHES, pages)).toEqual({ vary: false })
+  })
+
+  test('leaves a deprecated version target alone', () => {
+    expect(
+      getVersionPreference(
+        '/en/actions/no-fpt',
+        '/en/enterprise-server@3.0/actions/no-fpt',
+        GHES,
+        pages,
+      ),
+    ).toEqual({ vary: false })
+  })
+
   test('redirects a language homepage to the preferred version', () => {
     expect(getVersionPreference('/en', '/en', GHEC, pages)).toEqual({
       vary: true,
@@ -160,7 +193,7 @@ describe('getVersionPreference', () => {
     })
   })
 
-  // Versioned redirect targets short-circuit on pathNamesAVersion, so they cannot bounce back.
+  // The follow-up request names a version, so it short-circuits on pathNamesAVersion.
   test('cannot loop', () => {
     const first = getVersionPreference(
       '/en/actions/versioned',