diff --git a/apps/docs/content/docs/dev/advanced/auth.mdx b/apps/docs/content/docs/dev/advanced/auth.mdx
index 83e5104be..19dc6f685 100644
--- a/apps/docs/content/docs/dev/advanced/auth.mdx
+++ b/apps/docs/content/docs/dev/advanced/auth.mdx
@@ -75,3 +75,44 @@ import { TypeTable } from 'fumadocs-ui/components/type-table';
     },
   }}
 />
+
+## Back to where you were
+
+The admin cookie is short-lived by design (a day, by default), so an admin's
+session tends to run out mid-task. When it does, VitNode remembers the page they
+were on in the sign-in URL:
+
+```txt
+/admin?redirect=%2Fadmin%2Fcore%2Fusers%3Fpage%3D2
+```
+
+Sign in, and you land back on that page - query string and all - instead of the
+dashboard. With nothing to return to, sign-in goes to `/admin/core` as before.
+
+The path comes from the Proxy, which stamps every request with an
+`x-vitnode-pathname` header (locale prefix already removed) because a Server
+Component only ever sees the rewritten, internal URL. You get this for free with
+`createVitNodeProxy`.
+
+The `?redirect=` value is untrusted - it is in the URL, after all - so it is
+validated twice: once when the sign-in page reads it, and again in the Server
+Action that signs you in. Only paths inside `/admin` survive; an absolute URL, a
+protocol-relative `//somewhere-else.example`, a `..` segment or the sign-in page
+itself are all thrown away in favour of `/admin/core`.
+
+<Callout title="Upgrading an existing app">
+  Your `src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx` has to forward the page props for the
+  sign-in view to see the query:
+
+```tsx title="src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx"
+import { SignInAdminView } from "@vitnode/core/views/admin/sign-in/sign-in-admin-view";
+import React from "react";
+
+export default function Page(
+  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof SignInAdminView>,
+) {
+  return <SignInAdminView {...props} />;
+}
+```
+
+</Callout>
diff --git a/apps/docs/src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx b/apps/docs/src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx
index 5e82810dd..5d9d3b0f0 100644
--- a/apps/docs/src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/docs/src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import { SignInAdminView } from "@vitnode/core/views/admin/sign-in/sign-in-admin-view";
+import React from "react";
 
-export default function Page() {
-  return <SignInAdminView />;
+export default function Page(
+  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof SignInAdminView>,
+) {
+  return <SignInAdminView {...props} />;
 }
diff --git a/packages/create-vitnode-app/copy-of-vitnode-app/root/src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx b/packages/create-vitnode-app/copy-of-vitnode-app/root/src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx
index 5e82810dd..5d9d3b0f0 100644
--- a/packages/create-vitnode-app/copy-of-vitnode-app/root/src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx
+++ b/packages/create-vitnode-app/copy-of-vitnode-app/root/src/app/[locale]/admin/page.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import { SignInAdminView } from "@vitnode/core/views/admin/sign-in/sign-in-admin-view";
+import React from "react";
 
-export default function Page() {
-  return <SignInAdminView />;
+export default function Page(
+  props: React.ComponentProps<typeof SignInAdminView>,
+) {
+  return <SignInAdminView {...props} />;
 }
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/admin-redirect.test.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/admin-redirect.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a351b51ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/admin-redirect.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import {
+  ADMIN_SIGN_IN_PATH,
+  getAdminSignInHref,
+  sanitizeAdminRedirect,
+} from "./admin-redirect";
+
+describe("sanitizeAdminRedirect", () => {
+  it("keeps AdminCP paths, query string included", () => {
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("/admin/core/users")).toBe(
+      "/admin/core/users",
+    );
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("/admin/core/users?page=2&sort=name")).toBe(
+      "/admin/core/users?page=2&sort=name",
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("rejects anything that would leave the origin", () => {
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("//evil.example/admin")).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("/\\evil.example/admin")).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("https://evil.example")).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("/admin/core\\..\\..\\evil")).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("admin/core")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects paths outside the AdminCP", () => {
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("/settings")).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("/administrators")).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("/admin/../settings")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects the sign-in page, which would be a loop", () => {
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("/admin")).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(
+      sanitizeAdminRedirect("/admin?redirect=/admin/core"),
+    ).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects a missing value", () => {
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect(null)).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect(undefined)).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(sanitizeAdminRedirect("")).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
+
+describe("getAdminSignInHref", () => {
+  it("remembers where the admin was", () => {
+    expect(getAdminSignInHref("/admin/core/users?page=2")).toEqual({
+      pathname: ADMIN_SIGN_IN_PATH,
+      query: { redirect: "/admin/core/users?page=2" },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to the bare sign-in page", () => {
+    expect(getAdminSignInHref("/admin")).toBe(ADMIN_SIGN_IN_PATH);
+    expect(getAdminSignInHref(null)).toBe(ADMIN_SIGN_IN_PATH);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/admin-redirect.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/admin-redirect.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..21960aab6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/admin-redirect.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/** Query parameter carrying the page to return to after signing back in. */
+export const ADMIN_REDIRECT_PARAM = "redirect";
+
+/** The AdminCP sign-in page. */
+export const ADMIN_SIGN_IN_PATH = "/admin";
+
+/** Where an admin lands when there is nothing to return to. */
+export const ADMIN_HOME_PATH = "/admin/core";
+
+/**
+ * Narrows a `?redirect=` value down to a path inside the AdminCP, or
+ * `undefined` when it is anything else.
+ *
+ * The value is untrusted on both hops - it arrives in the URL, and again in the
+ * sign-in form's payload - so both sanitise it. Without this an expired session
+ * would hand anyone a link that signs an admin in and drops them on
+ * `//evil.example`, which is exactly the open redirect a "take me back where I
+ * was" feature invites. Only locale-less paths under `/admin` survive, and the
+ * sign-in page itself is rejected so a successful sign-in never lands back on
+ * the form.
+ */
+export const sanitizeAdminRedirect = (
+  value: null | string | undefined,
+): string | undefined => {
+  if (typeof value !== "string" || !value.startsWith("/")) return undefined;
+
+  // `//evil.example` and `/\evil.example` are both protocol-relative URLs to
+  // another origin, and a backslash anywhere else is no more legitimate.
+  if (value.includes("\\") || value.startsWith("//")) return undefined;
+
+  const [pathname] = value.split(/[#?]/);
+
+  if (!pathname.startsWith(`${ADMIN_SIGN_IN_PATH}/`)) return undefined;
+  // `/admin/../..` stays same-origin, but it leaves the AdminCP.
+  if (pathname.split("/").includes("..")) return undefined;
+
+  return value;
+};
+
+/**
+ * The sign-in href for an admin who was on `pathname` when their session ran
+ * out, remembering it as `?redirect=` when it is worth returning to.
+ */
+export const getAdminSignInHref = (pathname: null | string | undefined) => {
+  const redirectTo = sanitizeAdminRedirect(pathname);
+
+  if (!redirectTo) return ADMIN_SIGN_IN_PATH;
+
+  return {
+    pathname: ADMIN_SIGN_IN_PATH,
+    query: { [ADMIN_REDIRECT_PARAM]: redirectTo },
+  };
+};
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/api/get-session-admin-api.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/api/get-session-admin-api.ts
index 6d19d8897..f3d3e1d7a 100644
--- a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/api/get-session-admin-api.ts
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/api/get-session-admin-api.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { headers } from "next/headers";
 import { cache } from "react";
 
 import type { PermissionsStaffArgs } from "@/api/lib/permission-staff";
@@ -5,7 +6,9 @@ import type { PermissionsStaffArgs } from "@/api/lib/permission-staff";
 import { hasStaffPermission } from "@/api/lib/staff-permission";
 import { adminModule } from "@/api/modules/admin/admin.module";
 import { CONFIG_PLUGIN } from "@/config";
+import { getAdminSignInHref } from "@/lib/admin-redirect";
 import { fetcher } from "@/lib/fetcher";
+import { VITNODE_PATHNAME_HEADER } from "@/lib/request-pathname";
 
 import { redirect } from "../navigation";
 
@@ -33,7 +36,10 @@ export const getSessionAdminApi = cache(async () => {
   });
 
   if (res.status !== 200) {
-    await redirect("/admin");
+    // Remembered as `?redirect=`, so signing back in returns the admin to the
+    // page they were on instead of dropping them on the dashboard.
+    const pathname = (await headers()).get(VITNODE_PATHNAME_HEADER);
+    await redirect(getAdminSignInHref(pathname));
 
     return;
   }
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/i18n/proxy.test.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/i18n/proxy.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f3f425b00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/i18n/proxy.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from "next/server";
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import { VITNODE_PATHNAME_HEADER } from "../request-pathname";
+import { createVitNodeProxy } from "./proxy";
+
+let stamped: null | string = null;
+
+vi.mock("next-intl/middleware", () => ({
+  default: () => (request: NextRequest) => {
+    stamped = request.headers.get(VITNODE_PATHNAME_HEADER);
+
+    return NextResponse.next();
+  },
+}));
+
+const proxy = createVitNodeProxy({
+  defaultLocale: "en",
+  locales: [
+    { code: "en", name: "English" },
+    { code: "pl", name: "Polski" },
+  ],
+});
+
+/** The path next-intl - and with it the app - is handed for `url`. */
+const stampedPathname = (url: string) => {
+  proxy(new NextRequest(url));
+
+  return stamped;
+};
+
+describe("createVitNodeProxy", () => {
+  it("stamps the requested path, query string included", () => {
+    expect(
+      stampedPathname("https://vitnode.test/admin/core/users?page=2"),
+    ).toBe("/admin/core/users?page=2");
+  });
+
+  it("strips the locale prefix, so the path can be localized again later", () => {
+    expect(stampedPathname("https://vitnode.test/pl/admin/core")).toBe(
+      "/admin/core",
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/i18n/proxy.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/i18n/proxy.ts
index 30e85c443..9ea0adeba 100644
--- a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/i18n/proxy.ts
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/i18n/proxy.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,14 @@
+import type { NextRequest } from "next/server";
+
 import createMiddleware from "next-intl/middleware";
 
 import type { VitNodeI18nConfig } from "./types";
 
+import {
+  stripLocalePrefix,
+  VITNODE_PATHNAME_HEADER,
+} from "../request-pathname";
+
 /**
  * The next-intl Proxy (middleware), built from the app's i18n config alone.
  *
@@ -10,10 +17,27 @@ import type { VitNodeI18nConfig } from "./types";
  * through the request config - cannot be imported. Keeping `vitnode.config.ts`
  * out of the Proxy's module graph is what lets the request config read root
  * params at all.
+ *
+ * It also stamps {@link VITNODE_PATHNAME_HEADER} onto the request, which is the
+ * only place the requested path is still intact: next-intl rewrites the URL
+ * from here on, and it copies the request headers onto the response it forwards,
+ * so a Server Component can read the header back out of `headers()`.
  */
-export const createVitNodeProxy = (i18n: VitNodeI18nConfig) =>
-  createMiddleware({
-    locales: i18n.locales.map(locale => locale.code),
+export const createVitNodeProxy = (i18n: VitNodeI18nConfig) => {
+  const locales = i18n.locales.map(locale => locale.code);
+  const proxy = createMiddleware({
+    locales,
     defaultLocale: i18n.defaultLocale,
     localePrefix: i18n.localePrefix ?? "as-needed",
   });
+
+  return (request: NextRequest) => {
+    request.headers.set(
+      VITNODE_PATHNAME_HEADER,
+      stripLocalePrefix(request.nextUrl.pathname, locales) +
+        request.nextUrl.search,
+    );
+
+    return proxy(request);
+  };
+};
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/request-pathname.test.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/request-pathname.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..453b42dae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/request-pathname.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { stripLocalePrefix } from "./request-pathname";
+
+describe("stripLocalePrefix", () => {
+  const locales = ["en", "pl"];
+
+  it("drops a leading locale segment", () => {
+    expect(stripLocalePrefix("/pl/admin/core", locales)).toBe("/admin/core");
+    expect(stripLocalePrefix("/en", locales)).toBe("/");
+  });
+
+  it("leaves an unprefixed path alone", () => {
+    expect(stripLocalePrefix("/admin/core", locales)).toBe("/admin/core");
+    expect(stripLocalePrefix("/", locales)).toBe("/");
+  });
+
+  it("only matches whole segments", () => {
+    expect(stripLocalePrefix("/entries/1", locales)).toBe("/entries/1");
+    expect(stripLocalePrefix("/admin/en/core", locales)).toBe("/admin/en/core");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/lib/request-pathname.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/request-pathname.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bc3e8e5df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/lib/request-pathname.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/**
+ * Request header the Proxy stamps with the path the visitor actually asked for
+ * - pathname plus query string, locale prefix removed.
+ *
+ * A Server Component never sees that path on its own: by the time it renders,
+ * the Proxy has rewritten the URL to the internal, locale-prefixed one, and
+ * nothing in `headers()` carries the original. Anything that has to know where
+ * the visitor was - sending an admin back to the page they were on after their
+ * session expired, for one - reads it from here.
+ */
+export const VITNODE_PATHNAME_HEADER = "x-vitnode-pathname";
+
+/**
+ * Drops a leading locale segment, so `/pl/admin/core` and `/admin/core` both
+ * come out as `/admin/core`.
+ *
+ * Stored paths stay locale-less on purpose: `Link` and `redirect` from
+ * `@/lib/navigation` add the current locale back themselves, and a path that
+ * already carried one would end up prefixed twice.
+ */
+export const stripLocalePrefix = (
+  pathname: string,
+  locales: string[],
+): string => {
+  for (const locale of locales) {
+    if (pathname === `/${locale}`) return "/";
+    if (pathname.startsWith(`/${locale}/`)) {
+      return pathname.slice(locale.length + 1);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return pathname;
+};
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/views/admin/sign-in/sign-in-admin-view.tsx b/packages/vitnode/src/views/admin/sign-in/sign-in-admin-view.tsx
index 2ebd90675..eef399184 100644
--- a/packages/vitnode/src/views/admin/sign-in/sign-in-admin-view.tsx
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/views/admin/sign-in/sign-in-admin-view.tsx
@@ -1,15 +1,31 @@
 import { I18nProvider } from "@/components/i18n-provider";
 import { LogoVitNode } from "@/components/logo-vitnode";
 import { Card } from "@/components/ui/card";
+import {
+  ADMIN_REDIRECT_PARAM,
+  sanitizeAdminRedirect,
+} from "@/lib/admin-redirect";
 import { FormSignIn } from "@/views/auth/sign-in/form/form";
 
-export const SignInAdminView = () => {
+export const SignInAdminView = async ({
+  searchParams,
+}: {
+  searchParams?: Promise<Record<string, string | string[] | undefined>>;
+}) => {
+  const redirectParam = (await searchParams)?.[ADMIN_REDIRECT_PARAM];
+
   return (
     <I18nProvider namespaces={["core.auth.sign_in"]}>
       <div className="mx-auto flex min-h-screen max-w-md flex-col items-center justify-center gap-10 px-4 py-16">
         <LogoVitNode className="w-64" />
         <Card className="w-full p-6">
-          <FormSignIn isAdmin isEmail={false} />
+          <FormSignIn
+            isAdmin
+            isEmail={false}
+            redirectTo={sanitizeAdminRedirect(
+              typeof redirectParam === "string" ? redirectParam : undefined,
+            )}
+          />
         </Card>
       </div>
     </I18nProvider>
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/form.tsx b/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/form.tsx
index 7cae30a4a..f640e2a59 100644
--- a/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/form.tsx
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/form.tsx
@@ -15,13 +15,19 @@ import { useFormSignIn } from "./use-form";
 export const FormSignIn = ({
   isAdmin,
   isEmail,
+  redirectTo,
 }: {
   isAdmin?: boolean;
   isEmail: boolean;
+  /** AdminCP path to return to after signing in, from `?redirect=`. */
+  redirectTo?: string;
 }) => {
   const t = useTranslations("core.auth.sign_in");
   const shouldReduceMotion = useReducedMotion();
-  const { onSubmit, error, formSchema } = useFormSignIn({ isAdmin });
+  const { onSubmit, error, formSchema } = useFormSignIn({
+    isAdmin,
+    redirectTo,
+  });
 
   return (
     <div className="space-y-4">
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/mutation-api.server.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/mutation-api.server.ts
index ffcf66c8f..08126eb59 100644
--- a/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/mutation-api.server.ts
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/mutation-api.server.ts
@@ -7,14 +7,17 @@ import { revalidatePath } from "next/cache";
 import type { zodSignInSchema } from "@/api/modules/users/routes/sign-in.route";
 
 import { usersModule } from "@/api/modules/users/users.module";
+import { ADMIN_HOME_PATH, sanitizeAdminRedirect } from "@/lib/admin-redirect";
 import { fetcher } from "@/lib/fetcher";
 import { redirect } from "@/lib/navigation";
 
-export const mutationApi = async (
-  input: z.infer<typeof zodSignInSchema> & {
-    isAdmin?: boolean;
-  },
-) => {
+export const mutationApi = async ({
+  redirectTo,
+  ...input
+}: z.infer<typeof zodSignInSchema> & {
+  isAdmin?: boolean;
+  redirectTo?: string;
+}) => {
   const res = await fetcher(usersModule, {
     path: "/sign_in",
     method: "post",
@@ -35,7 +38,9 @@ export const mutationApi = async (
 
   if (input.isAdmin) {
     revalidatePath("/[locale]/admin", "layout");
-    await redirect("/admin/core");
+    // `redirectTo` crossed the network as part of the form payload, so it is
+    // sanitised again here rather than trusted from the page that rendered it.
+    await redirect(sanitizeAdminRedirect(redirectTo) ?? ADMIN_HOME_PATH);
 
     return;
   }
diff --git a/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/use-form.ts b/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/use-form.ts
index 6d6d67a03..b18944a9b 100644
--- a/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/use-form.ts
+++ b/packages/vitnode/src/views/auth/sign-in/form/use-form.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,13 @@ import type { AutoFormOnSubmit } from "@/components/form/auto-form";
 
 import { mutationApi } from "./mutation-api.server";
 
-export const useFormSignIn = ({ isAdmin = false }: { isAdmin?: boolean }) => {
+export const useFormSignIn = ({
+  isAdmin = false,
+  redirectTo,
+}: {
+  isAdmin?: boolean;
+  redirectTo?: string;
+}) => {
   const [error, setError] = React.useState<"" | "access_denied">("");
   const t = useTranslations<"core.auth.sign_in">("core.auth.sign_in");
   const tErrors = useTranslations("core.global.errors");
@@ -21,7 +27,7 @@ export const useFormSignIn = ({ isAdmin = false }: { isAdmin?: boolean }) => {
 
   const onSubmit: AutoFormOnSubmit<typeof formSchema> = async values => {
     setError("");
-    const mutation = await mutationApi({ ...values, isAdmin });
+    const mutation = await mutationApi({ ...values, isAdmin, redirectTo });
 
     if (!mutation?.message) return;
     if (mutation?.message !== "Internal Server Error") {