diff --git a/CHANGELOG.adoc b/CHANGELOG.adoc
index 3e444f2d1ceb04d5f04e8ae9732f6ff98055da20..bb0cbf7a1a485c1cabd1cfe6cfb6628217187ff8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.adoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.adoc
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ For a detailed view of what's changed, refer to the {url-repo}/commits[commit hi
 === Fixed
 
 * escape underscore in attachment URL to avoid conflicts with emphasis formatting (#111)
+* create internal link from duplicate nav entry to first occurence (#120)
 
 == 1.0.0-beta.5 (2025-07-15)
 
diff --git a/packages/assembler/lib/produce-assembly-file.js b/packages/assembler/lib/produce-assembly-file.js
index e34a0e5d0871e4df6d8b862a1ac0a560d90e576b..f4b2f3b239d8344e3b8bd5391b9deac9947ac4a4 100644
--- a/packages/assembler/lib/produce-assembly-file.js
+++ b/packages/assembler/lib/produce-assembly-file.js
@@ -578,10 +578,17 @@ function mergeAsciiDoc (
       let sectionTitle = navtitleAsciiDoc
       if (urlType === 'external') {
         sectionTitle = `${url}[${navtitleAsciiDoc.replace(/\]/g, '\\]')}]`
-      } else if (urlType === 'internal' && !unresolved && siteUrl != null) {
+      } else if (urlType === 'internal' && !unresolved) {
         const resource = files.find((it) => it.pub.url === url)
         if (resource) {
-          sectionTitle = `${resolveLinkTarget(resource, siteUrl)}[${navtitleAsciiDoc.replace(/\]/g, '\\]')}]`
+          if (resource.src.family === 'page' && pagesInOutline.has(resource.pub.url)) {
+            let refid = resource.src.relative.replace(/\.adoc$/, '').replace(/[/.]/g, '-')
+            if (refid.startsWith('./')) refid = topicPrefix + refid.slice(2)
+            if (resource.src.module !== 'ROOT') refid = `${resource.src.module}${idCoordinateSeparator}${refid}`
+            sectionTitle = `<<${refid},${navtitleAsciiDoc}>>`
+          } else if (siteUrl != null) {
+            sectionTitle = `${resolveLinkTarget(resource, siteUrl)}[${navtitleAsciiDoc.replace(/\]/g, '\\]')}]`
+          }
         }
       }
       let hlevel = level + 1
diff --git a/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/ignore-duplicate-nav-entry/data.yml b/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/ignore-duplicate-nav-entry/data.yml
index 903f93245595a961e8a072e670ca08eed22451f7..0aa77df17f21330413332cfe7de61dc558e91eea 100644
--- a/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/ignore-duplicate-nav-entry/data.yml
+++ b/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/ignore-duplicate-nav-entry/data.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ navigation:
   items:
   - content: xref:the-page.adoc[]
     items:
+    # first entry gets skipped if same as parent
     - content: xref:the-page.adoc[]
     - content: xref:another-page.adoc[]
   - content: xref:yet-another-page.adoc[]
diff --git a/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/ignore-duplicate-nav-entry/expects/index.adoc b/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/ignore-duplicate-nav-entry/expects/index.adoc
index cd19a91c89d82b737b5641b5f5685ab27a92393c..c0d0417fa5b68805195845881fafa116ce6424e6 100644
--- a/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/ignore-duplicate-nav-entry/expects/index.adoc
+++ b/packages/assembler/test/scenarios/ignore-duplicate-nav-entry/expects/index.adoc
@@ -48,5 +48,5 @@ contents
 contents
 
 :!sectids:
-=== The Page Title
+=== <<the-page,The Page Title>>
 :sectids: