diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/DocItem/index.js b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/DocItem/index.js
index 8325244d35e7..96b77ffa091a 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/DocItem/index.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/DocItem/index.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import React from 'react';
 
 import Head from '@docusaurus/Head';
+import isInternalUrl from '@docusaurus/isInternalUrl';
 import useDocusaurusContext from '@docusaurus/useDocusaurusContext';
 import useBaseUrl from '@docusaurus/useBaseUrl';
 import DocPaginator from '@theme/DocPaginator';
@@ -75,7 +76,10 @@ function DocItem(props) {
     },
   } = DocContent;
 
-  const metaImageUrl = siteUrl + useBaseUrl(metaImage);
+  let metaImageUrl = siteUrl + useBaseUrl(metaImage);
+  if (!isInternalUrl(metaImage)) {
+    metaImageUrl = metaImage;
+  }
 
   return (
     <>
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Layout/index.js b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Layout/index.js
index 571a10db98b7..e733f40ee5a0 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Layout/index.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Layout/index.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import React from 'react';
 import Head from '@docusaurus/Head';
+import isInternalUrl from '@docusaurus/isInternalUrl';
 import useDocusaurusContext from '@docusaurus/useDocusaurusContext';
 import useBaseUrl from '@docusaurus/useBaseUrl';
 
@@ -36,8 +37,12 @@ function Layout(props) {
     version,
   } = props;
   const metaTitle = title ? `${title} | ${siteTitle}` : siteTitle;
-  const metaImage = image || defaultImage;
-  const metaImageUrl = siteUrl + useBaseUrl(metaImage);
+
+  let metaImageUrl = siteUrl + useBaseUrl(metaImage);
+  if (!isInternalUrl(metaImage)) {
+    metaImageUrl = metaImage;
+  }
+
   const faviconUrl = useBaseUrl(favicon);
 
   return (