diff --git a/webui2/src/components/layout/Header.tsx b/webui2/src/components/layout/Header.tsx
index e37cbf4c6d83a7c9fe9d2c7728fa4c6acaabde54..2a078b4f0c74e1d351d4e5162ae8c06233ccdffd 100644
--- a/webui2/src/components/layout/Header.tsx
+++ b/webui2/src/components/layout/Header.tsx
@@ -6,14 +6,15 @@
 // In external mode, shows a "Sign in" button when logged out and a sign-out
 // action when logged in.
 
-import { Link, useParams } from "@tanstack/react-router";
+import { Link, useParams, useRouterState } from "@tanstack/react-router";
 import { Bug, Plus, Sun, Moon, LogIn, LogOut } from "lucide-react";
 
 import { Avatar, AvatarFallback, AvatarImage } from "@/components/ui/avatar";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
-import { ButtonLink, NavLink } from "@/components/ui/button-link";
+import { ButtonLink } from "@/components/ui/button-link";
 import { useAuth } from "@/lib/auth";
 import { useTheme } from "@/lib/theme";
+import { cn } from "@/lib/utils";
 
 // SignOutButton sends a POST to /auth/logout and reloads the page.
 // A full reload is the simplest way to reset all Apollo cache + React state.
@@ -52,20 +53,7 @@ export function Header() {
         </Link>
 
         {/* Repo-scoped nav links — only shown when inside a repo */}
-        {effectiveRepo && (
-          <nav className="flex items-center gap-1">
-            <NavLink to="/$repo" params={{ repo: effectiveRepo }} activeOptions={{ exact: true }}>
-              Code
-            </NavLink>
-            <NavLink
-              to="/$repo/issues"
-              params={{ repo: effectiveRepo }}
-              search={{ q: "status:open", after: "" }}
-            >
-              Issues
-            </NavLink>
-          </nav>
-        )}
+        {effectiveRepo && <RepoNav repo={effectiveRepo} />}
 
         <div className="ml-auto flex items-center gap-2">
           {mode === "readonly" && <span className="text-muted-foreground text-xs">Read only</span>}
@@ -111,6 +99,40 @@ export function Header() {
   );
 }
 
+const navLinkBase = "rounded-md px-3 py-1.5 text-sm font-medium transition-colors";
+const navLinkActive = "bg-accent text-accent-foreground";
+const navLinkInactive = "text-muted-foreground hover:bg-accent hover:text-accent-foreground";
+
+function RepoNav({ repo }: { repo: string }) {
+  // Determine which section is active from the matched route IDs.
+  // The _code layout match means we're in the code browser; _issues means issues.
+  const matchedIds = useRouterState({
+    select: (s) => s.matches.map((m) => m.routeId),
+  });
+  const isCodeActive = matchedIds.some((id) => id.includes("/_code"));
+  const isIssuesActive = matchedIds.some((id) => id.includes("/_issues"));
+
+  return (
+    <nav className="flex items-center gap-1">
+      <Link
+        to="/$repo"
+        params={{ repo }}
+        className={cn(navLinkBase, isCodeActive ? navLinkActive : navLinkInactive)}
+      >
+        Code
+      </Link>
+      <Link
+        to="/$repo/issues"
+        params={{ repo }}
+        search={{ q: "status:open", after: "" }}
+        className={cn(navLinkBase, isIssuesActive ? navLinkActive : navLinkInactive)}
+      >
+        Issues
+      </Link>
+    </nav>
+  );
+}
+
 function providerLabel(name: string): string {
   const labels: Record<string, string> = { github: "GitHub", gitlab: "GitLab", gitea: "Gitea" };
   return labels[name] ?? name;
diff --git a/webui2/src/components/ui/button-link.tsx b/webui2/src/components/ui/button-link.tsx
index c437b7577a229361fe67224145f7d41e24a8597e..a37e7d2ea4140923399dd8565ce5c55d31fc0816 100644
--- a/webui2/src/components/ui/button-link.tsx
+++ b/webui2/src/components/ui/button-link.tsx
@@ -31,33 +31,3 @@ const CreatedButtonLink = createLink(ButtonLinkComponent);
 export const ButtonLink: LinkComponent<typeof ButtonLinkComponent> = (props) => {
   return <CreatedButtonLink preload="intent" {...props} />;
 };
-
-// A nav link that uses activeProps/inactiveProps for styling.
-// Replaces the manual useMatchRoute() pattern in the header.
-const NavLinkComponent = React.forwardRef<
-  HTMLAnchorElement,
-  React.AnchorHTMLAttributes<HTMLAnchorElement>
->(({ children, ...props }, ref) => {
-  return (
-    <a ref={ref} {...props}>
-      {children}
-    </a>
-  );
-});
-NavLinkComponent.displayName = "NavLinkComponent";
-
-const CreatedNavLink = createLink(NavLinkComponent);
-
-export const NavLink: LinkComponent<typeof NavLinkComponent> = (props) => {
-  return (
-    <CreatedNavLink
-      preload="intent"
-      className="text-muted-foreground hover:bg-accent hover:text-accent-foreground rounded-md px-3 py-1.5 text-sm font-medium transition-colors"
-      activeProps={{ className: "bg-accent text-accent-foreground" }}
-      inactiveProps={{
-        className: "text-muted-foreground hover:bg-accent hover:text-accent-foreground",
-      }}
-      {...props}
-    />
-  );
-};