diff --git a/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/releasenotes/5.4.0/#9397.tid b/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/releasenotes/5.4.0/#9397.tid
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..768c442a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/editions/tw5.com/tiddlers/releasenotes/5.4.0/#9397.tid
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+title: $:/changenotes/5.4.0/#9397
+description: Fix critical freelinks bugs: first character loss and false positive matches in v5.4.0
+release: 5.4.0
+tags: $:/tags/ChangeNote
+change-type: bugfix
+change-category: plugin
+github-links: https://github.com/TiddlyWiki/TiddlyWiki5/pull/9084 https://github.com/TiddlyWiki/TiddlyWiki5/pull/9397
+github-contributors: s793016
+
+This note addresses two major bugs introduced in the Freelinks plugin with the v5.4.0 release:
+
+Fixes:
+* First Character Loss: The first character of a matched word would incorrectly disappear (e.g., "The" became "he"). This was fixed by correctly timing the filtering of the current tiddler's title during match validation, ensuring proper substring handling.
+* False Positive Matches: Unrelated words (like "it is" or "Choose") would incorrectly link to a tiddler title. This was resolved by fixing wrong output merging in the Aho-Corasick failure-link handling, eliminating spurious matches from intermediate nodes, and adding cycle detection.
+
+Impact:
+* Significantly improved correctness and reliability of automatic linking for all users, especially in multilingual and large wikis.
diff --git a/plugins/tiddlywiki/freelinks/aho-corasick.js b/plugins/tiddlywiki/freelinks/aho-corasick.js
index bcbcf9b44..4f66256a9 100644
--- a/plugins/tiddlywiki/freelinks/aho-corasick.js
+++ b/plugins/tiddlywiki/freelinks/aho-corasick.js
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ title: $:/core/modules/utils/aho-corasick.js
 type: application/javascript
 module-type: utils
 
-Optimized Aho-Corasick string matching algorithm implementation with enhanced performance
-and error handling for TiddlyWiki freelinking functionality.
+Optimized Aho-Corasick string matching algorithm implementation with enhanced performance and error handling for TiddlyWiki freelinking functionality.
 
 Useage:
 
@@ -39,7 +38,7 @@ Notes
  Word Boundary: Enabling useWordBoundary ensures more precise matches, ideal for link detection scenarios.
  Compatibility: Ensure compatibility with other TiddlyWiki modules (e.g., wikiparser.js) when processing WikiText.
  Debugging: Use getStats() to inspect the trie structure's size and ensure it does not overload browser memory.
-
+ 
 \*/
 
 "use strict";
@@ -111,14 +110,9 @@ AhoCorasick.prototype.buildFailureLinks = function() {
 				var failureLink = (fail && fail[char]) ? fail[char] : root;
 				this.failure[child] = failureLink;
 				
-				var failureOutput = this.failure[child];
-				if(failureOutput && failureOutput.$) {
-					if(!child.$) {
-						child.$ = [];
-					}
-					child.$.push.apply(child.$, failureOutput.$);
-				}
-				
+				// Do not merge outputs from failure links during build
+				// Instead, collect matches dynamically by traversing failure links during search				
+
 				queue.push(child);
 			}
 		}
@@ -143,6 +137,7 @@ AhoCorasick.prototype.search = function(text, useWordBoundary) {
 		var char = text[i];
 		var transitionCount = 0;
 		
+		// Follow failure links to find a valid transition
 		while(node && !node[char] && node !== this.trie && transitionCount < this.maxFailureDepth) {
 			node = this.failure[node] || this.trie;
 			transitionCount++;
@@ -157,9 +152,19 @@ AhoCorasick.prototype.search = function(text, useWordBoundary) {
 			}
 		}
 		
+		// Traverse the current node and its failure link chain to gather all patterns
 		var currentNode = node;
 		var collectCount = 0;
+		var visitedNodes = new Set();
+		
 		while(currentNode && collectCount < 10) {
+			// Prevent infinite loops
+			if(visitedNodes.has(currentNode)) {
+				break;
+			}
+			visitedNodes.add(currentNode);
+			
+			// Only collect outputs from the current node (not merged ones)
 			if(currentNode.$) {
 				var outputs = currentNode.$;
 				for(var j = 0; j < outputs.length && matches.length < maxMatches; j++) {
@@ -167,6 +172,11 @@ AhoCorasick.prototype.search = function(text, useWordBoundary) {
 					var matchStart = i - output.length + 1;
 					var matchEnd = i + 1;
 					
+					var matchedText = text.substring(matchStart, matchEnd);
+					if(matchedText !== output.pattern) {
+						continue;
+					}
+					
 					if(useWordBoundary && !this.isWordBoundaryMatch(text, matchStart, matchEnd)) {
 						continue;
 					}
@@ -179,6 +189,7 @@ AhoCorasick.prototype.search = function(text, useWordBoundary) {
 					});
 				}
 			}
+			
 			currentNode = this.failure[currentNode];
 			if(currentNode === this.trie) break;
 			collectCount++;
diff --git a/plugins/tiddlywiki/freelinks/text.js b/plugins/tiddlywiki/freelinks/text.js
index 5af9fffc0..e6e1ab430 100755
--- a/plugins/tiddlywiki/freelinks/text.js
+++ b/plugins/tiddlywiki/freelinks/text.js
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ TextNodeWidget.prototype.execute = function() {
 		
 		if(this.tiddlerTitleInfo.titles.length > 0) {
 			var newParseTree = this.processTextWithMatches(text, currentTiddlerTitle, ignoreCase, useWordBoundary);
-			if(newParseTree.length > 1 || newParseTree[0].type !== "plain-text") {
+			if(newParseTree && newParseTree.length > 0 && 
+			   (newParseTree.length > 1 || newParseTree[0].type !== "plain-text")) {
 				childParseTree = newParseTree;
 			}
 		}
@@ -94,6 +95,10 @@ TextNodeWidget.prototype.execute = function() {
 };
 
 TextNodeWidget.prototype.processTextWithMatches = function(text, currentTiddlerTitle, ignoreCase, useWordBoundary) {
+	if(!text || text.length === 0) {
+		return [{type: "plain-text", text: text}];
+	}
+	
 	var searchText = ignoreCase ? text.toLowerCase() : text;
 	var matches;
 	
@@ -108,8 +113,10 @@ TextNodeWidget.prototype.processTextWithMatches = function(text, currentTiddlerT
 	}
 	
 	matches.sort(function(a, b) {
-		var posDiff = a.index - b.index;
-		return posDiff !== 0 ? posDiff : b.length - a.length;
+		if(a.index !== b.index) {
+			return a.index - b.index;
+		}
+		return b.length - a.length;
 	});
 	
 	var processedPositions = new FastPositionSet();
@@ -120,6 +127,23 @@ TextNodeWidget.prototype.processTextWithMatches = function(text, currentTiddlerT
 		var matchStart = match.index;
 		var matchEnd = matchStart + match.length;
 		
+		if(matchStart < 0 || matchEnd > text.length) {
+			continue;
+		}
+		
+		var matchedTitle = this.tiddlerTitleInfo.titles[match.titleIndex];
+		
+		var titleToCompare = ignoreCase ? 
+			(currentTiddlerTitle ? currentTiddlerTitle.toLowerCase() : "") : 
+			currentTiddlerTitle;
+		var matchedTitleToCompare = ignoreCase ? 
+			(matchedTitle ? matchedTitle.toLowerCase() : "") : 
+			matchedTitle;
+		
+		if(titleToCompare && matchedTitleToCompare === titleToCompare) {
+			continue;
+		}
+		
 		var hasOverlap = false;
 		for(var pos = matchStart; pos < matchEnd && !hasOverlap; pos++) {
 			if(processedPositions.has(pos)) {
@@ -148,39 +172,36 @@ TextNodeWidget.prototype.processTextWithMatches = function(text, currentTiddlerT
 		var matchEnd = matchStart + match.length;
 		
 		if(matchStart > currentPos) {
+			var beforeText = text.substring(currentPos, matchStart);
 			newParseTree.push({
 				type: "plain-text",
-				text: text.slice(currentPos, matchStart)
+				text: beforeText
 			});
 		}
 		
 		var matchedTitle = this.tiddlerTitleInfo.titles[match.titleIndex];
+		var matchedText = text.substring(matchStart, matchEnd);
 		
-		if(matchedTitle === currentTiddlerTitle) {
-			newParseTree.push({
+		newParseTree.push({
+			type: "link",
+			attributes: {
+				to: {type: "string", value: matchedTitle},
+				"class": {type: "string", value: "tc-freelink"}
+			},
+			children: [{
 				type: "plain-text",
-				text: text.slice(matchStart, matchEnd)
-			});
-		} else {
-			newParseTree.push({
-				type: "link",
-				attributes: {
-					to: {type: "string", value: matchedTitle},
-					"class": {type: "string", value: "tc-freelink"}
-				},
-				children: [{
-					type: "plain-text",
-					text: text.slice(matchStart, matchEnd)
-				}]
-			});
-		}
+				text: matchedText
+			}]
+		});
+		
 		currentPos = matchEnd;
 	}
 	
 	if(currentPos < text.length) {
+		var remainingText = text.substring(currentPos);
 		newParseTree.push({
 			type: "plain-text",
-			text: text.slice(currentPos)
+			text: remainingText
 		});
 	}
 	
@@ -203,7 +224,6 @@ function computeTiddlerTitleInfo(self, ignoreCase) {
 	var validTitles = [];
 	var ac = new AhoCorasick();
 	
-	// Process titles in a single pass to avoid duplication
 	for(var i = 0; i < titles.length; i++) {
 		var title = titles[i];
 		if(title && title.length > 0 && title.substring(0,3) !== "$:/") {
@@ -214,17 +234,16 @@ function computeTiddlerTitleInfo(self, ignoreCase) {
 		}
 	}
 	
-	// Sort by length (descending) then alphabetically
-	// Longer titles are prioritized to avoid partial matches (e.g., "JavaScript" before "Java")
 	var sortedTitles = validTitles.sort(function(a,b) {
 		var lenDiff = b.length - a.length;
-		return lenDiff !== 0 ? lenDiff : (a < b ? -1 : a > b ? 1 : 0);
+		if(lenDiff !== 0) return lenDiff;
+		return a < b ? -1 : a > b ? 1 : 0;
 	});
 	
-	// Build Aho-Corasick automaton
 	for(var i = 0; i < sortedTitles.length; i++) {
 		var title = sortedTitles[i];
-		ac.addPattern(ignoreCase ? title.toLowerCase() : title, i);
+		var pattern = ignoreCase ? title.toLowerCase() : title;
+		ac.addPattern(pattern, i);
 	}
 	
 	try {