diff --git a/changelog/28669.txt b/changelog/28669.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e2594052ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/28669.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+core: Fixed panic seen when performing help requests without /v1/ in the URL.
+```
diff --git a/http/handler.go b/http/handler.go
index ceaaf34b45..c74f392aee 100644
--- a/http/handler.go
+++ b/http/handler.go
@@ -1417,7 +1417,13 @@ func respondOIDCPermissionDenied(w http.ResponseWriter) {
 	enc.Encode(oidcResponse)
 }
 
-// trimPath removes the /v1/ prefix and the namespace from the path
+// trimPath removes the /v1/ prefix (if present) and the namespace from the path
 func trimPath(ns *namespace.Namespace, path string) string {
-	return ns.TrimmedPath(path[len("/v1/"):])
+	const v1Prefix = "/v1/"
+
+	if strings.HasPrefix(path, v1Prefix) {
+		return ns.TrimmedPath(path[len(v1Prefix):])
+	}
+
+	return ns.TrimmedPath(path)
 }