diff --git a/.changeset/thick-poems-camp.md b/.changeset/thick-poems-camp.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..72056dfb5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/thick-poems-camp.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/core-app-api': patch
+---
+
+Fixed a bug where `useRouteRef` would fail in situations where relative navigation was needed and the app was is mounted on a sub-path. This would typically show up as a failure to navigate to a tab on an entity page.
diff --git a/packages/core-app-api/src/routing/RouteResolver.test.ts b/packages/core-app-api/src/routing/RouteResolver.test.ts
index 1b7eb10003..b068bd5e6d 100644
--- a/packages/core-app-api/src/routing/RouteResolver.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core-app-api/src/routing/RouteResolver.test.ts
@@ -100,23 +100,55 @@ describe('RouteResolver', () => {
     expect(r.resolve(externalRef4, '/')?.({ x: '6x' })).toBe(undefined);
   });
 
-  it('should resolve an absolute route and an app base path', () => {
+  it('should resolve an absolute route and sub route with an app base path', () => {
     const r = new RouteResolver(
-      new Map([[ref1, '/my-route']]),
-      new Map(),
-      [{ routeRefs: new Set([ref1]), path: '/my-route', ...rest }],
+      new Map<RouteRef, string>([
+        [ref2, '/my-parent/:x'],
+        [ref1, '/my-route'],
+      ]),
+      new Map<RouteRef, RouteRef>([[ref1, ref2]]),
+      [
+        {
+          routeRefs: new Set([ref2]),
+          path: '/my-parent/:x',
+          ...rest,
+          children: [
+            MATCH_ALL_ROUTE,
+            { routeRefs: new Set([ref1]), path: '/my-route', ...rest },
+          ],
+        },
+      ],
       new Map(),
       '/base',
     );
 
-    expect(r.resolve(ref1, '/')?.()).toBe('/base/my-route');
-    expect(r.resolve(ref2, '/')?.({ x: '1x' })).toBe(undefined);
-    expect(r.resolve(subRef1, '/')?.()).toBe('/base/my-route/foo');
-    expect(r.resolve(subRef2, '/')?.({ a: '2a' })).toBe(
-      '/base/my-route/foo/2a',
+    expect(r.resolve(ref1, '/my-parent/1x')?.()).toBe(
+      '/base/my-parent/1x/my-route',
+    );
+    expect(r.resolve(ref1, '/base/my-parent/1x')?.()).toBe(
+      '/base/my-parent/1x/my-route',
+    );
+    expect(r.resolve(ref2, '/')?.({ x: '1x' })).toBe('/base/my-parent/1x');
+    expect(r.resolve(ref2, '/base')?.({ x: '1x' })).toBe('/base/my-parent/1x');
+    expect(r.resolve(ref3, '/')?.({ y: '1y' })).toBe(undefined);
+    expect(r.resolve(subRef1, '/my-parent/2x')?.()).toBe(
+      '/base/my-parent/2x/my-route/foo',
+    );
+    expect(r.resolve(subRef1, '/base/my-parent/2x')?.()).toBe(
+      '/base/my-parent/2x/my-route/foo',
+    );
+    expect(r.resolve(subRef2, '/my-parent/3x')?.({ a: '2a' })).toBe(
+      '/base/my-parent/3x/my-route/foo/2a',
+    );
+    expect(r.resolve(subRef2, '/base/my-parent/3x')?.({ a: '2a' })).toBe(
+      '/base/my-parent/3x/my-route/foo/2a',
+    );
+    expect(r.resolve(subRef3, '/')?.({ x: '5x' })).toBe(
+      '/base/my-parent/5x/bar',
+    );
+    expect(r.resolve(subRef4, '/')?.({ x: '6x', a: '4a' })).toBe(
+      '/base/my-parent/6x/bar/4a',
     );
-    expect(r.resolve(subRef3, '/')?.({ x: '3x' })).toBe(undefined);
-    expect(r.resolve(subRef4, '/')?.({ x: '4x', a: '4a' })).toBe(undefined);
     expect(r.resolve(externalRef1, '/')?.()).toBe(undefined);
     expect(r.resolve(externalRef2, '/')?.()).toBe(undefined);
     expect(r.resolve(externalRef3, '/')?.({ x: '5x' })).toBe(undefined);
diff --git a/packages/core-app-api/src/routing/RouteResolver.ts b/packages/core-app-api/src/routing/RouteResolver.ts
index b5be5f893e..f186b28586 100644
--- a/packages/core-app-api/src/routing/RouteResolver.ts
+++ b/packages/core-app-api/src/routing/RouteResolver.ts
@@ -207,6 +207,20 @@ export class RouteResolver {
       return undefined;
     }
 
+    // The location that we get passed in uses the full path, so start by trimming off
+    // the app base path prefix in case we're running the app on a sub-path.
+    let relativeSourceLocation: Parameters<typeof matchRoutes>[1];
+    if (typeof sourceLocation === 'string') {
+      relativeSourceLocation = this.trimPath(sourceLocation);
+    } else if (sourceLocation.pathname) {
+      relativeSourceLocation = {
+        ...sourceLocation,
+        pathname: this.trimPath(sourceLocation.pathname),
+      };
+    } else {
+      relativeSourceLocation = sourceLocation;
+    }
+
     // Next we figure out the base path, which is the combination of the common parent path
     // between our current location and our target location, as well as the additional path
     // that is the difference between the parent path and the base of our target location.
@@ -214,7 +228,7 @@ export class RouteResolver {
       this.appBasePath +
       resolveBasePath(
         targetRef,
-        sourceLocation,
+        relativeSourceLocation,
         this.routePaths,
         this.routeParents,
         this.routeObjects,
@@ -225,4 +239,15 @@ export class RouteResolver {
     };
     return routeFunc;
   }
+
+  private trimPath(targetPath: string) {
+    if (!targetPath) {
+      return targetPath;
+    }
+
+    if (targetPath.startsWith(this.appBasePath)) {
+      return targetPath.slice(this.appBasePath.length);
+    }
+    return targetPath;
+  }
 }