diff --git a/packages/gatsby-plugin-nginx/src/nginx-generator.ts b/packages/gatsby-plugin-nginx/src/nginx-generator.ts
index 68e19e0496..b13258620a 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-plugin-nginx/src/nginx-generator.ts
+++ b/packages/gatsby-plugin-nginx/src/nginx-generator.ts
@@ -176,6 +176,12 @@ function generateNginxConfiguration({
                   ],
                 },
 
+                // Remove trailing slash if present
+                {
+                  cmd: ['location', '~', '^(?<no_slash>.+)/$'],
+                  children: [{ cmd: ['rewrite', '.+', '$no_slash'] }],
+                },
+
                 ...prependLocations,
                 ...locations,
                 ...appendLocations,
@@ -201,6 +207,7 @@ function stringify(directives: NginxDirective[]): string {
 
 const wildcard = /\*/g
 const namedSegment = /:[^/]+/g
+const catchAll = '/(.*)'
 
 // Converts a gatsby path to nginx location path
 // Ex:
@@ -208,10 +215,17 @@ const namedSegment = /:[^/]+/g
 //  '/:splat' => '^/([^/]+)$'
 //  '/foo/bar/:splat' => '^/foo/bar/([^/]+)$'
 export function convertToRegExp(path: string) {
-  const converted = path
+  let converted = path
     .replace(wildcard, '(.*)') // replace * with (.*)
     .replace(namedSegment, '([^/]+)') // replace :param like with url component like regex ([^/]+)
 
+  if (converted.endsWith(catchAll) && converted.length > catchAll.length) {
+    // allows '<path>/*' to serve '<path>' (without trailing slash)
+    // this is necessary because we are now removing trailing slashes from incoming requests
+    // so exact matches can work when there is a trailing slash
+    converted = converted.slice(0, -catchAll.length) + '(?:/(.*))?'
+  }
+
   const noTrailingSlashes = normalizePath(converted)
 
   return `^${noTrailingSlashes}$`
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-plugin-nginx/test/nginx-generator.test.ts b/packages/gatsby-plugin-nginx/test/nginx-generator.test.ts
index 78220433a2..927a6f0090 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-plugin-nginx/test/nginx-generator.test.ts
+++ b/packages/gatsby-plugin-nginx/test/nginx-generator.test.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ describe('convert Gatsby paths into nginx RegExp', () => {
   it('handles wildcard (*)', () => {
     expect(convertToRegExp('/*')).toEqual('^/(.*)$')
     expect(convertToRegExp('/*/')).toEqual('^/(.*)$')
-    expect(convertToRegExp('/pt/*')).toEqual('^/pt/(.*)$')
+    expect(convertToRegExp('/*/*')).toEqual('^/(.*)(?:/(.*))?$')
+    expect(convertToRegExp('/pt/*')).toEqual('^/pt(?:/(.*))?$')
   })
 })
 
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ describe('generateRewrites', () => {
       },
       {
         children: [{ cmd: ['rewrite', '.+', '/pt/__client-side-search__'] }],
-        cmd: ['location', '~*', '"^/pt/(.*)$"'],
+        cmd: ['location', '~*', '"^/pt(?:/(.*))?$"'],
       },
       {
         children: [{ cmd: ['rewrite', '.+', '/foo-path'] }],
@@ -138,7 +139,7 @@ describe('generateRedirects', () => {
   it('correctly translates into NginxDirectives', () => {
     const expected = [
       {
-        cmd: ['location', '~*', '"^/api/(.*)$"'],
+        cmd: ['location', '~*', '"^/api(?:/(.*))?$"'],
         children: [
           {
             cmd: [
@@ -150,7 +151,7 @@ describe('generateRedirects', () => {
         ],
       },
       {
-        cmd: ['location', '~*', '"^/graphql/(.*)$"'],
+        cmd: ['location', '~*', '"^/graphql(?:/(.*))?$"'],
         children: [
           {
             cmd: [
@@ -279,6 +280,9 @@ describe('generateNginxConfiguration', () => {
             deny all;
             return 404;
           }
+          location ~ ^(?<no_slash>.+)/$ {
+            rewrite .+ $no_slash;
+          }
           location = /foo {
             add_header a \\"b\\";
             try_files /foo/index.html =404;