diff --git a/internal/nftables/compiler.go b/internal/nftables/compiler.go
index af9b5d6..53d5b55 100644
--- a/internal/nftables/compiler.go
+++ b/internal/nftables/compiler.go
@@ -953,10 +953,10 @@ func (c *Compiler) compileImplicitIntraZone(state *FirewallState, overridden map
 	return nil
 }
 
-// intraZoneSkip drops intra-zone pairs on one interface (routeback's job) and pairs whose address
-// families can never both match.
+// intraZoneSkip drops intra-zone pairs on one interface unless both are routeback hosts entries
+// (interface routeback is compileIntraZone's job), and pairs whose address families can never both match.
 func intraZoneSkip(si, di zoneMatch) bool {
-	if si.iface != "" && si.iface == di.iface {
+	if si.iface != "" && si.iface == di.iface && !(si.routeback && di.routeback) {
 		return true
 	}
 	a, b := matchFamily(si), matchFamily(di)
@@ -1278,11 +1278,12 @@ func (c *Compiler) selectChain(srcZone, dstZone, fwZone string) string {
 // zoneMatch classifies a packet into a zone: an interface (empty: any) and, for a hosts entry, one host
 // address; excl carves out hosts exclusions and the hosts of sub-zones, which shorewall matches first.
 // fam (an NFPROTO; addr's family when set, else 0: any) guards addr and excl so IPv4 offsets are
-// never compared against IPv6 bytes.
+// never compared against IPv6 bytes. routeback marks a hosts entry with the routeback option.
 type zoneMatch struct {
 	iface, addr string
 	excl        []string
 	fam         byte
+	routeback   bool
 }
 
 // resolveZone returns nil (fail closed) for an unknown zone, or one with neither interfaces nor hosts
@@ -1326,7 +1327,7 @@ func (c *Compiler) resolveZone(zone, addr string) []zoneMatch {
 		v4, v6 := splitFamily(slices.Concat(h.Exclusions, sub))
 		for _, a := range h.Addresses {
 			if addrsOverlap(a, addr) {
-				m := zoneMatch{iface: h.Interface, addr: a, excl: v6}
+				m := zoneMatch{iface: h.Interface, addr: a, excl: v6, routeback: h.Options.RouteBack}
 				if p, err := parsePrefix(a); err == nil && p.Addr().Is4() {
 					m.excl = v4
 				}
diff --git a/internal/nftables/compiler_test.go b/internal/nftables/compiler_test.go
index 519f1ea..dccbc3a 100644
--- a/internal/nftables/compiler_test.go
+++ b/internal/nftables/compiler_test.go
@@ -3637,3 +3637,29 @@ func TestCompile_HostsIntraZone(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("lan lan policy = %q, want %q", got, want)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestCompile_HostsRouteBack(t *testing.T) {
+	sameIface := func(routeback bool) func(*config.Config) {
+		return func(c *config.Config) {
+			c.Hosts = []config.Host{
+				{Zone: "lan", Interface: "wlo1", Addresses: []string{"192.0.2.0/24"}, Options: config.HostOptions{RouteBack: routeback}},
+				{Zone: "lan", Interface: "wlo1", Addresses: []string{"198.51.100.0/24"}},
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if got := describeTagged(mustCompile(t, hostsCfg(sameIface(false))), "forward", "intra:lan"); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("same-interface hosts without routeback = %q, want none", got)
+	}
+	want := []string{"iif=wlo1 ip4 saddr=192.0.2.0/24 oif=wlo1 ip4 daddr=192.0.2.0/24"}
+	if got := describeTagged(mustCompile(t, hostsCfg(sameIface(true))), "forward", "intra:lan"); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, want) {
+		t.Errorf("routeback hosts intra = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+
+	state := mustCompile(t, hostsCfg(func(c *config.Config) {
+		sameIface(true)(c)
+		c.Policy = append([]config.Policy{{Source: "lan", Dest: "lan", Action: config.PolicyDrop}}, c.Policy...)
+	}))
+	if got := describeTagged(state, "forward", "policy:0"); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, want) {
+		t.Errorf("routeback hosts lan lan policy = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}