diff --git a/lib/libfetch/fetch.c b/lib/libfetch/fetch.c
index 12cbd0fb746f..97fc04bb09a6 100644
--- a/lib/libfetch/fetch.c
+++ b/lib/libfetch/fetch.c
@@ -447,7 +447,10 @@ fetchParseURL(const char *URL)
 			goto ouch;
 		}
 		u->doc = doc;
-		while (*p != '\0') {
+		/* fragments are reserved for client-side processing, see
+		 * https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9110.html#section-7.1
+		 */
+		while (*p != '\0' && *p != '#') {
 			if (!isspace((unsigned char)*p)) {
 				*doc++ = *p++;
 			} else {