diff --git a/examples/nuxt-link/pages/index.vue b/examples/nuxt-link/pages/index.vue
index b432aa7166..f12ad59916 100644
--- a/examples/nuxt-link/pages/index.vue
+++ b/examples/nuxt-link/pages/index.vue
@@ -21,5 +21,6 @@
     <MyNuxtLink to="/">
       Index page with a custom link component with a custom active class
     </MyNuxtLink>
+    <NuxtLink>Link without href and to</NuxtLink>
   </div>
 </template>
diff --git a/packages/nuxt3/src/app/components/nuxt-link.ts b/packages/nuxt3/src/app/components/nuxt-link.ts
index e5ea01958c..1407289285 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt3/src/app/components/nuxt-link.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt3/src/app/components/nuxt-link.ts
@@ -141,8 +141,7 @@ export function defineNuxtLink (options: NuxtLinkOptions) {
           return false
         }
 
-        // Directly check if `to` is an external URL by checking protocol
-        return hasProtocol(to.value, true)
+        return to.value === '' || hasProtocol(to.value, true)
       })
 
       return () => {
@@ -171,10 +170,10 @@ export function defineNuxtLink (options: NuxtLinkOptions) {
 
         // Resolves `rel`
         checkPropConflicts(props, 'noRel', 'rel')
-        const rel = props.noRel
+        const rel = (props.noRel)
           ? null
           // converts `""` to `null` to prevent the attribute from being added as empty (`rel=""`)
-          : firstNonUndefined<string | null>(props.rel, options.externalRelAttribute, DEFAULT_EXTERNAL_REL_ATTRIBUTE) || null
+          : firstNonUndefined<string | null>(props.rel, options.externalRelAttribute, href ? DEFAULT_EXTERNAL_REL_ATTRIBUTE : '') || null
 
         return h('a', { href, rel, target }, slots.default())
       }
diff --git a/packages/nuxt3/test/nuxt-link.test.ts b/packages/nuxt3/test/nuxt-link.test.ts
index ee12dc3cf3..5138dea898 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt3/test/nuxt-link.test.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt3/test/nuxt-link.test.ts
@@ -53,8 +53,10 @@ describe('nuxt-link:to', () => {
     consoleWarnSpy.mockRestore()
   })
 
-  it('defaults to `null`', () => {
-    expect(nuxtLink().props.href).toBe(null)
+  it('without to and href', () => {
+    const link = nuxtLink()
+    expect(link.props.href).toBe(null)
+    expect(link.props.rel).toBe(null)
   })
 })