diff --git a/src/http/include/sourcemeta/one/http_request.h b/src/http/include/sourcemeta/one/http_request.h
index 4946b21f..93dd3aac 100644
--- a/src/http/include/sourcemeta/one/http_request.h
+++ b/src/http/include/sourcemeta/one/http_request.h
@@ -118,6 +118,22 @@ class HTTPRequest {
     return this->request_->getHeader(name);
   }
 
+  // uWebSockets stores header field-names lowercased, so `name` must be
+  // lowercase too
+  [[nodiscard]] auto header_exists(const std::string_view name) const noexcept
+      -> bool {
+    if (this->request_ == nullptr) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    for (const auto [key, value] : *this->request_) {
+      if (key == name) {
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+    return false;
+  }
+
   [[nodiscard]] auto query(const std::string_view name) const
       -> std::string_view {
     return this->request_->getQuery(name);
diff --git a/src/router/artifact.cc b/src/router/artifact.cc
index 25cc9802..7197f6f3 100644
--- a/src/router/artifact.cc
+++ b/src/router/artifact.cc
@@ -144,25 +144,6 @@ auto RouterAction::artifact_serve(
     return;
   }
 
-  // Note that `If-Modified-Since` can only be used with a `GET` or `HEAD`.
-  // See
-  // https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/If-Modified-Since
-  const auto if_modified_since{request.header_gmt("if-modified-since")};
-  // Time comparison can be flaky, but adding a bit of tolerance leads
-  // to more consistent behavior.
-  if (if_modified_since.has_value() &&
-      (if_modified_since.value() + std::chrono::seconds(1)) >=
-          info->last_modified) {
-    response.write_status(sourcemeta::one::STATUS_NOT_MODIFIED);
-    if (enable_cors) {
-      response.write_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
-    }
-
-    sourcemeta::one::send_response(sourcemeta::one::STATUS_NOT_MODIFIED,
-                                   request, response);
-    return;
-  }
-
   // Our checksum is computed over the identity (uncompressed) payload at
   // index time. When the wire response is gzip-encoded the wire bytes are
   // not what the checksum covers, so per RFC 9110 §8.8.1 the validator must
@@ -179,10 +160,45 @@ auto RouterAction::artifact_serve(
   const auto &checksum{info->checksum_hex};
   const std::string etag_strong{std::string{"\""} + checksum + "\""};
   const std::string etag_weak{std::string{"W/\""} + checksum + "\""};
-  for (const auto &match : request.header_list("if-none-match")) {
-    // Cache hit
-    if (match.first == "*" || match.first == etag_weak ||
-        match.first == etag_strong) {
+
+  // RFC 9110 §13.2.2 (Precedence of Preconditions): If-None-Match is
+  // evaluated before If-Modified-Since. RFC 9110 §13.1.3: "A recipient
+  // MUST ignore If-Modified-Since if the request contains an If-None-Match
+  // header field; the condition in If-None-Match is considered to be a
+  // more accurate replacement for the condition in If-Modified-Since, and
+  // the two are only combined for the sake of interoperating with older
+  // intermediaries that might not implement If-None-Match." Header
+  // *presence* (not match outcome, and not non-empty value) is what
+  // suppresses If-Modified-Since: even a malformed `If-None-Match:` with
+  // an empty value still triggers the MUST per spec letter.
+  // https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9110#section-13.2.2
+  // https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9110#section-13.1.3
+  if (request.header_exists("if-none-match")) {
+    for (const auto &match : request.header_list("if-none-match")) {
+      // Cache hit
+      if (match.first == "*" || match.first == etag_weak ||
+          match.first == etag_strong) {
+        response.write_status(sourcemeta::one::STATUS_NOT_MODIFIED);
+        if (enable_cors) {
+          response.write_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
+        }
+
+        sourcemeta::one::send_response(sourcemeta::one::STATUS_NOT_MODIFIED,
+                                       request, response);
+        return;
+      }
+    }
+  } else {
+    // Per RFC 9110 §13.1.3 If-Modified-Since is only evaluated when
+    // If-None-Match is absent. It can only be used with GET or HEAD; this
+    // function is reached only on those methods (checked at the entry).
+    // https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/If-Modified-Since
+    const auto if_modified_since{request.header_gmt("if-modified-since")};
+    // Time comparison can be flaky, but adding a bit of tolerance leads
+    // to more consistent behavior.
+    if (if_modified_since.has_value() &&
+        (if_modified_since.value() + std::chrono::seconds(1)) >=
+            info->last_modified) {
       response.write_status(sourcemeta::one::STATUS_NOT_MODIFIED);
       if (enable_cors) {
         response.write_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
diff --git a/test/e2e/html/hurl/etag.all.hurl b/test/e2e/html/hurl/etag.all.hurl
index 60e27312..aae39fdb 100644
--- a/test/e2e/html/hurl/etag.all.hurl
+++ b/test/e2e/html/hurl/etag.all.hurl
@@ -109,3 +109,59 @@ header "Content-Security-Policy" not exists
 header "X-Frame-Options" not exists
 header "Date" matches /^(Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun), (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) (Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec) [0-9]{4} ([01][0-9]|2[0-3]):[0-5][0-9]:[0-5][0-9] GMT$/
 bytes count > 0
+
+# RFC 9110 §13.1.3 / §13.2.2: If-None-Match takes precedence over
+# If-Modified-Since. When both headers are present the recipient MUST
+# ignore If-Modified-Since and evaluate If-None-Match alone, regardless
+# of the match outcome.
+# https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9110#section-13.1.3
+# https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9110#section-13.2.2
+
+# (1) IMS in the past (would normally return 200) + matching INM:
+# INM wins, response is 304 by ETag match.
+GET {{base}}/test/schemas/string.json
+If-Modified-Since: Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT
+If-None-Match: {{test_schemas_string_json_etag}}
+HTTP 304
+Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
+[Asserts]
+header "Referrer-Policy" not exists
+header "Content-Security-Policy" not exists
+header "X-Frame-Options" not exists
+header "Date" matches /^(Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun), (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) (Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec) [0-9]{4} ([01][0-9]|2[0-3]):[0-5][0-9]:[0-5][0-9] GMT$/
+header "Content-Type" not exists
+bytes count == 0
+
+# (2) IMS in the future (would normally return 304) + non-matching INM:
+# INM wins, response is 200 because INM did not match. The IMS that
+# would have produced 304 is ignored per the MUST in §13.1.3. This is
+# the key regression the precondition-order fix prevents: previously
+# the server short-circuited on IMS before INM was even consulted.
+GET {{base}}/test/schemas/string.json
+If-Modified-Since: Thu, 01 Jan 2100 00:00:00 GMT
+If-None-Match: "definitely-not-a-real-checksum"
+HTTP 200
+Content-Type: application/schema+json
+Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
+[Asserts]
+header "Referrer-Policy" not exists
+header "Content-Security-Policy" not exists
+header "X-Frame-Options" not exists
+header "Date" matches /^(Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun), (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) (Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec) [0-9]{4} ([01][0-9]|2[0-3]):[0-5][0-9]:[0-5][0-9] GMT$/
+header "ETag" matches /^"[0-9a-f]+"$/
+header "Vary" == "Accept-Encoding"
+bytes count > 0
+
+# (3) Sanity baseline: IMS in the future + no INM evaluates IMS
+# normally and returns 304.
+GET {{base}}/test/schemas/string.json
+If-Modified-Since: Thu, 01 Jan 2100 00:00:00 GMT
+HTTP 304
+Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
+[Asserts]
+header "Referrer-Policy" not exists
+header "Content-Security-Policy" not exists
+header "X-Frame-Options" not exists
+header "Date" matches /^(Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun), (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]) (Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec) [0-9]{4} ([01][0-9]|2[0-3]):[0-5][0-9]:[0-5][0-9] GMT$/
+header "Content-Type" not exists
+bytes count == 0