diff --git a/routes/xref/lib/scraper.ts b/routes/xref/lib/scraper.ts
index 3e6e280f..499e58d0 100644
--- a/routes/xref/lib/scraper.ts
+++ b/routes/xref/lib/scraper.ts
@@ -207,9 +207,6 @@ function normalizeTerm(term: string, type: string) {
   if (type === "method" && !term.endsWith(")")) {
     return term + "()";
   }
-  if (type === "dfn") {
-    return term.toLowerCase();
-  }
   return term;
 }
 
diff --git a/routes/xref/lib/search.ts b/routes/xref/lib/search.ts
index 6f03183c..a94f241e 100644
--- a/routes/xref/lib/search.ts
+++ b/routes/xref/lib/search.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ export interface DataEntry {
   normative: boolean;
   for?: string[];
   htmlProse?: string;
+  /** The canonical term this entry was indexed under (set on case-insensitive fallback hits). */
+  term?: string;
 }
 
 type SpecType = DataEntry["status"] | "draft" | "official";
@@ -120,9 +122,13 @@ function normalizeQuery(query: Query, options: Options) {
 }
 
 function filter(query: Query, store: Store, options: Options) {
+  const { types = [] } = query;
+  const isIDL = types.some(t => IDL_TYPES.has(t));
+  const allowCaseFallback = !isIDL;
+
   let result: DataEntry[] = [];
   for (const term of getTermVariations(query)) {
-    const byTerm = filterByTerm(term, store);
+    const byTerm = filterByTerm(term, store, allowCaseFallback);
     const bySpec = filterBySpec(byTerm, query);
     const byType = filterByType(bySpec, query);
     const byForContext = filterByForContext(byType, query, options);
@@ -155,8 +161,20 @@ function getTermVariations(query: Query) {
   }
 }
 
-function filterByTerm(term: Query["term"], store: Store) {
-  return store.byTerm[term] || [];
+function filterByTerm(term: Query["term"], store: Store, allowCaseFallback: boolean) {
+  if (term == null) return [];
+  const direct = store.byTerm[term];
+  if (direct) return direct;
+  if (!allowCaseFallback) return [];
+  // Case-insensitive fallback: tag each entry with its canonical term so
+  // downstream consumers (e.g. the xref UI) can build correct cite syntax
+  // instead of using the user's potentially miscased input.
+  const lower = term.toLowerCase();
+  const variants = store.byTermLower.get(lower);
+  if (!variants) return [];
+  return variants.flatMap(v =>
+    (store.byTerm[v] || []).map(entry => ({ ...entry, term: v })),
+  );
 }
 
 function filterBySpec(data: DataEntry[], query: Query) {
diff --git a/routes/xref/lib/store.ts b/routes/xref/lib/store.ts
index 7a5f4d25..2cfe5846 100644
--- a/routes/xref/lib/store.ts
+++ b/routes/xref/lib/store.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ export class Store {
   version = -1;
   bySpec: { [shortname: string]: DataEntry[] } = {};
   byTerm: { [term: string]: DataEntry[] } = {};
+  byTermLower: Map<string, string[]> = new Map();
   specmap: { [group: string]: SpecMapGroup } = {};
   /** Headings pre-indexed by spec shortname, then by fragment id. */
   headings: HeadingsBySpec = {};
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ export class Store {
     this.specmap = readJson("specmap.json");
     this.headings = readJsonOptional("headings.json");
     this.specTitleByShortname = buildSpecTitleMap(this.specmap);
+    this.byTermLower = buildTermLowerIndex(this.byTerm);
     this.version = Date.now();
   }
 
@@ -106,7 +108,6 @@ function readJsonOptional(filename: string) {
 /** Build a shortname → title map from the specmap for O(1) title lookup. */
 function buildSpecTitleMap(specmap: Store["specmap"]): Map<string, string> {
   const result = new Map<string, string>();
-  // specmap is { current: { [specid]: entry }, snapshot: { [specid]: entry } }
   for (const group of Object.values(specmap)) {
     for (const entry of Object.values(group)) {
       result.set(entry.shortname, entry.title);
@@ -114,3 +115,20 @@ function buildSpecTitleMap(specmap: Store["specmap"]): Map<string, string> {
   }
   return result;
 }
+
+/** Build a lowercase → original-case-keys index for case-insensitive lookup. */
+export function buildTermLowerIndex(
+  byTerm: Store["byTerm"],
+): Map<string, string[]> {
+  const index = new Map<string, string[]>();
+  for (const term of Object.keys(byTerm)) {
+    const lower = term.toLowerCase();
+    const existing = index.get(lower);
+    if (existing) {
+      existing.push(term);
+    } else {
+      index.set(lower, [term]);
+    }
+  }
+  return index;
+}
diff --git a/static/xref/script.js b/static/xref/script.js
index df8ee2d2..2c2c3bf6 100644
--- a/static/xref/script.js
+++ b/static/xref/script.js
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ const specStatusType = {
 
 let metadata;
 const options = {
-  fields: ['shortname', 'spec', 'uri', 'type', 'for', 'status'],
+  fields: ['shortname', 'spec', 'uri', 'type', 'for', 'status', 'term'],
   spec_type: ['draft', 'snapshot'],
   all: true,
 };
@@ -146,17 +146,20 @@ function renderResults(entries, query) {
 
   let html = '';
   for (const entry of entries) {
+    // Use the canonical matched term when available (case-insensitive fallback
+    // hits); otherwise fall back to the user's query term (exact match).
+    const citeTerm = entry.term || term;
     const specInfo = metadata.specs[entry.status][entry.spec];
     const link = new URL(entry.uri, specInfo.url).href;
     const title = escapeHTML(specInfo.title);
     const cite = metadata.types.idl.has(entry.type)
-      ? howToCiteIDL(term, entry)
+      ? howToCiteIDL(citeTerm, entry)
       : metadata.types.markup.has(entry.type)
-        ? howToCiteMarkup(term, entry)
+        ? howToCiteMarkup(citeTerm, entry)
         : metadata.types.css.has(entry.type) ||
             metadata.types.http.has(entry.type)
-          ? howToCiteAnchor(term, entry)
-          : howToCiteTerm(term, entry);
+          ? howToCiteAnchor(citeTerm, entry)
+          : howToCiteTerm(citeTerm, entry);
     let row = `
       <tr>
         <td><a href="${link}">${title}</a></td>
diff --git a/tests/routes/xref/lib/search.test.js b/tests/routes/xref/lib/search.test.js
index 0f6b40ba..5fa511b7 100644
--- a/tests/routes/xref/lib/search.test.js
+++ b/tests/routes/xref/lib/search.test.js
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@ import {
   search as _search,
   cache,
 } from "../../../../build/routes/xref/lib/search.js";
+import { buildTermLowerIndex } from "../../../../build/routes/xref/lib/store.js";
 
 import byTerm from "./data-by-term.js";
-const store = { byTerm };
+
+const store = { byTerm, byTermLower: buildTermLowerIndex(byTerm) };
 
 /**
  * @param {import("../../../../routes/xref/lib/search.js").Query} query
@@ -137,11 +139,17 @@ describe("xref - search", () => {
     it("preserves case based on query.types", () => {
       const baseline = [{ uri: "text.html#TermBaseline" }];
       const baselineInterface = [{ uri: "#baseline" }];
+      const baselineBoth = [
+        { uri: "text.html#TermBaseline" },
+        { uri: "#baseline" },
+      ];
 
       expect(search({ term: "baseline" })).toEqual(baseline);
-      expect(search({ term: "baseLine" })).toEqual([]);
+      // Case-insensitive fallback finds all variants
+      expect(search({ term: "baseLine" })).toEqual(baselineBoth);
 
       expect(search({ term: "baseLine", types: ["dfn"] })).toEqual(baseline);
+      // IDL is case-sensitive: "baseLine" must not match "Baseline"
       expect(search({ term: "baseLine", types: ["_IDL_"] })).toEqual([]);
 
       expect(search({ term: "Baseline", types: ["dfn"] })).toEqual(baseline);
@@ -150,6 +158,27 @@ describe("xref - search", () => {
       );
     });
 
+    it("includes canonical term on case-insensitive fallback hits", () => {
+      // When the case-insensitive fallback fires, each result entry should
+      // include the canonical term it was indexed under, so cite syntax can
+      // use the correct casing instead of the user's input.
+      const searchWithTerm = query => {
+        const response = _search([query], store, { fields: ["uri", "term"] });
+        return response.result[0][1];
+      };
+
+      // Exact match: no term field (not a fallback hit)
+      const exact = searchWithTerm({ term: "baseline" });
+      expect(exact).toEqual([{ uri: "text.html#TermBaseline", term: undefined }]);
+
+      // Case-insensitive fallback: term field present with canonical casing
+      const fallback = searchWithTerm({ term: "baseLine" });
+      expect(fallback).toEqual([
+        { uri: "text.html#TermBaseline", term: "baseline" },
+        { uri: "#baseline", term: "Baseline" },
+      ]);
+    });
+
     it("preserves case for element-type queries", () => {
       const foreignObject = [
         { uri: "embedded.html#elementdef-foreignObject" },