diff --git a/exampleSite/content/basics/migration/_index.en.md b/exampleSite/content/basics/migration/_index.en.md
index 96271809eb9..cce223477f8 100644
--- a/exampleSite/content/basics/migration/_index.en.md
+++ b/exampleSite/content/basics/migration/_index.en.md
@@ -47,6 +47,23 @@ This document shows you what's new in the latest release. For a detailed list of
 
 - {{% badge style="info" icon="plus-circle" title=" " %}}New{{% /badge %}} This release comes with additional sort options for the menu and the [`children` shortcode]({{% relref "shortcodes/children" %}}). Both will now accept the following values: `weight`, `title`, `linktitle`, `modifieddate`, `expirydate`, `publishdate`, `date`, `length` or `default` (adhering to Hugo's default sort order).
 
+- {{% badge style="info" icon="plus-circle" title=" " %}}New{{% /badge %}} This release adds portable links.
+
+  Previously it was not possible to use pure Markdown links in a configuration independend way to link to pages inside of your project. It always required you to know how your `uglyURLs` setting is, wheather you link to a page or page bundle and in case of relative links if your current page is a page or page bundle. (eg. `[generator](generator/index.html)` vs. `[generator](generator.html)`). This is a hassle as you have to change these links manually once you change your `uglyURLs` setting or change the type of a page.
+
+  You could work around this by using the `relref` shortcode (eg `[generator]({{%/* relref "../generator" */%}})`) which works but results in non-portable Markdown.
+
+  Now it's possible to use the same path of a call to `relref` in a plain Markdown link (eg `[generator](../generator)`). This is independend of any configuration settings or the page types involved in linking. Note, that this requires your links to be given without any extension, so `[generator](generator/index.html)` will work as before.
+
+  The following types of linking are supported:
+
+  | link                             | description                     |
+  | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
+  | `[generator](basics/generator)`  | absolute from your project root |
+  | `[generator](/basics/generator)` | absolute from your project root |
+  | `[generator](./../generator)`    | relative from the current page  |
+  | `[generator](../generator)`      | relative from the current page  |
+
 ---
 
 ## 5.22.0 (2023-10-02) {#5220}
diff --git a/layouts/partials/shortcodes/link.html b/layouts/partials/shortcodes/link.html
index 93aa50158c6..e3d49ca38fd 100644
--- a/layouts/partials/shortcodes/link.html
+++ b/layouts/partials/shortcodes/link.html
@@ -16,5 +16,41 @@
   {{- if isset $page.Site.Params "externallinktarget" }}
     {{- $target = $page.Site.Params.externalLinkTarget }}
   {{- end }}
-{{- end -}}
+{{- else }}
+  {{- $url = urls.Parse $url }}
+  {{- if and $url.Path (not (strings.HasSuffix $url.Path ".html")) (not (strings.HasSuffix $url.Path ".md")) }}
+    {{- /* ignore old style links with  given extension */}}
+    {{- $found := false }}
+    {{- $fragment := "" }}
+    {{- with $url.Fragment }}
+      {{- $fragment = printf "#%s" . }}
+    {{- end }}
+    {{- $path := strings.TrimSuffix ".html" $url.Path }}
+    {{- $path := $url.Path }}
+    {{- with $page.Page.GetPage $path }}
+      {{- $url = printf "%s%s" (partial "relLangPrettyUglyURL.hugo" (dict "to" .)) $fragment }}
+      {{- $found = true }}
+    {{- else }}
+      {{- /* is it a link into another translation? */}}
+      {{- range $page.Site.Languages }}
+        {{- $lang := .Lang }}
+        {{- $prefix := printf "/%s" $lang }}
+        {{- if strings.HasPrefix $prefix $path }}
+          {{- $path := strings.TrimPrefix $prefix $path }}
+          {{- with $page.Page.GetPage $path }}
+            {{- range .Page.AllTranslations }}
+              {{- if eq $lang .Lang }}
+                {{- $url = printf "%s%s" (partial "relLangPrettyUglyURL.hugo" (dict "to" .)) $fragment }}
+                {{- $found = true }}
+              {{- end }}
+            {{- end }}
+          {{- end }}
+        {{- end }}
+      {{- end }}
+    {{- end }}
+    {{- if not $found }}
+      {{- warnf "%q: no page was found for link '%s'" $page.File.Path $url.Path }}
+    {{- end }}
+  {{- end }}
+{{- end }}
 <a href="{{ $url | safeURL }}"{{ if $title }} title="{{ $title }}"{{ end }}{{ if gt (len $target) 0 }} target="{{ $target }}"{{ end }}>{{ $content | safeHTML }}</a>
\ No newline at end of file