diff --git a/vite.config.js b/vite.config.js
index 1497d5b..41dd477 100644
--- a/vite.config.js
+++ b/vite.config.js
@@ -3,9 +3,39 @@ import react from "@vitejs/plugin-react";
 import tailwindcss from "@tailwindcss/vite";
 import { vitest } from "vitest";
 import svgr from "vite-plugin-svgr";
+import { copyFileSync, existsSync } from "node:fs";
+import { resolve } from "node:path";
+
+/**
+ * GitHub Pages serves static files only — it has no rewrite rule to map client-side
+ * routes back to the app shell. So a direct visit to (or a reload of) a route such as
+ * /overview or /contributors requests a file that does not exist on disk and Pages
+ * returns its default "File not found" page instead of the app.
+ *
+ * Emitting 404.html as a copy of index.html is the documented workaround: Pages serves
+ * that file for any unmatched path, the app boots, and React Router resolves the route
+ * from window.location. The URL is preserved, so there is no redirect and no flash.
+ */
+function spaDeepLinkFallback() {
+  let outDir;
+
+  return {
+    name: "spa-deep-link-fallback",
+    apply: "build",
+    configResolved(config) {
+      outDir = resolve(config.root, config.build.outDir);
+    },
+    closeBundle() {
+      const indexHtml = resolve(outDir, "index.html");
+      if (existsSync(indexHtml)) {
+        copyFileSync(indexHtml, resolve(outDir, "404.html"));
+      }
+    },
+  };
+}
 
 export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => ({
-  plugins: [react(), tailwindcss(), svgr()],
+  plugins: [react(), tailwindcss(), svgr(), spaDeepLinkFallback()],
   base: "/",
   test: {
     globals: true,