diff --git a/CHANGELOG.adoc b/CHANGELOG.adoc
index 3bdd1cb587205bddb5e487e44b67153fda5a715a..a29fa52495265d30093c6d45692def2bfb8da8fd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.adoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.adoc
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ For a detailed view of what's changed, refer to the {url-repo}/commits[commit hi
 === Fixed
 
 * integrate Asciidoctor log messages properly when jsonl formatter is not enabled (#133)
+* escape module name in xref if it ends with pass or stem (#131)
 
 == 1.0.0-beta.10 (2025-10-17)
 
diff --git a/packages/assembler/lib/produce-assembly-file.js b/packages/assembler/lib/produce-assembly-file.js
index 650afec3f5ead18498bb34a616198ee6dce94313..5f1b6f4d131924f30622e94930b59a0bb2e5c449 100644
--- a/packages/assembler/lib/produce-assembly-file.js
+++ b/packages/assembler/lib/produce-assembly-file.js
@@ -406,7 +406,6 @@ function mergeAsciiDoc (
             return m
           }
           if (fragment === resource.asciidoc.id) fragment = ''
-          const refid = generateId(resource.src, componentVersion, idCoordinateSeparator, idScopeSeparator, fragment).id
           if (
             text &&
             (assemblyModel.dropExplicitXrefText === 'always' ||
@@ -414,6 +413,14 @@ function mergeAsciiDoc (
           ) {
             text = ''
           }
+          const refid = generateId(
+            resource.src,
+            componentVersion,
+            idCoordinateSeparator,
+            idScopeSeparator,
+            text.length > 0,
+            fragment
+          ).id
           return `xref:${refid}[${text}]`
         })
       }
@@ -566,7 +573,7 @@ function mergeAsciiDoc (
         const resource = files.find((it) => it.pub.url === url)
         if (resource) {
           if (resource.src.family === 'page' && pagesInOutline.has(resource.pub.url)) {
-            const refid = generateId(resource.src, componentVersion, idCoordinateSeparator, idScopeSeparator).id
+            const refid = generateId(resource.src, componentVersion, idCoordinateSeparator, idScopeSeparator, true).id
             sectionTitle = `xref:${refid}[${navtitleAsciiDoc.replace(/\]/g, '\\]')}]`
           } else if (siteRoot) {
             sectionTitle = `${resolveLinkTarget(resource, siteRoot, pubRoot, linkRefStyle)}[${navtitleAsciiDoc.replace(/\]/g, '\\]')}]`
@@ -807,11 +814,13 @@ function createResourceKey ({ component, version, module: mod, family, relative
   return `${version}@${component}:${mod === 'ROOT' ? '' : mod}:${family === 'page' ? '' : family + '$'}${relative}`
 }
 
-function generateId ({ component, module: mod, relative }, componentVersion, coordinateSep, scopeSep, fragment) {
+function generateId (componentSrc, componentVersion, coordinateSep, scopeSep, escapePass, fragment) {
+  let { component, module: mod, relative } = componentSrc
   let id = relative.replace(/\.adoc$/, '').replace(/[/.]/g, '-')
   if (component !== componentVersion.name) {
     id = [component, mod === 'ROOT' ? '' : mod, id].join(coordinateSep)
   } else if (mod !== 'ROOT') {
+    if (escapePass && coordinateSep === ':' && /(?:pass|stem)$/.test(mod)) mod = mod.replace(/(?:pass|stem)$/, '\\$&')
     id = mod + coordinateSep + id
   } else if (ReservedIdNames.includes(id)) {
     id += scopeSep
diff --git a/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/rewrite-page-links/data.yml b/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/rewrite-page-links/data.yml
index 555a65278d140c8202c8b5588d8f31f70856c1d8..696eba5f1157171f9a2595fa4d977e9d735a77b6 100644
--- a/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/rewrite-page-links/data.yml
+++ b/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/rewrite-page-links/data.yml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ navigation:
   - content: xref:header.adoc[]
   - content: xref:the-page.adoc[]
   - content: xref:other-module:the-page.adoc[]
+  - content: xref:stem:index.adoc[]
 files:
 - relative: header.adoc
   contents: |-
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ files:
     This page follows the xref:header.adoc[Header], which provides some xref:header.adoc#background[background].
 
     Also see xref:other-module:the-page.adoc#top[].
+    Or you can learn all about xref:stem:index.adoc[STEM].
 
     Go back to the site to see xref:other-component::index.adoc[] and xref:imported-component::index.adoc[Imported Page].
 
@@ -39,6 +41,12 @@ files:
     = The Other Page
 
     content
+- relative: index.adoc
+  module: stem
+  contents: |-
+    = STEM
+
+    Learn all about it.
 - component: other-component
   relative: index.adoc
   contents: |-
diff --git a/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/rewrite-page-links/expects/index.adoc b/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/rewrite-page-links/expects/index.adoc
index 786991fa70b7c7c01d37dfddb0a0f17463157417..cad0ebb6e534b15b5fa645a7d7dbc6bea7a801bd 100644
--- a/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/rewrite-page-links/expects/index.adoc
+++ b/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/rewrite-page-links/expects/index.adoc
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ You are on xref:the-page[this page].
 This page follows the xref:header:::[Header], which provides some xref:header:::background[background].
 
 Also see xref:other-module:the-page[].
+Or you can learn all about xref:\stem:index[STEM].
 
 Go back to the site to see https://preview-docs.example.org/other-component/index.html[Another Page] and https://docs.example.org/imported-component/index.html[Imported Page].
 
@@ -61,3 +62,16 @@ You have reached the end of xref:the-page[xrefstyle=full].
 == The Other Page
 
 content
+
+:docname: index
+:page-module: stem
+:page-relative-src-path: index.adoc
+:page-origin-url: https://github.com/acme/the-component
+:page-origin-start-path:
+:page-origin-refname: v1.0
+:page-origin-reftype: branch
+:page-origin-refhash: a00000000000000000000000000000000000000z
+[#stem:index]
+== STEM
+
+Learn all about it.