diff --git a/fastapi/routing.py b/fastapi/routing.py
index 4793f1305c..39592d9436 100644
--- a/fastapi/routing.py
+++ b/fastapi/routing.py
@@ -1011,10 +1011,8 @@ class APIRoute(routing.Route):
         # RFC 7231 §4.3.2: the server SHOULD send the same header fields in
         # response to a HEAD request as it would have sent for GET.
         # HEAD is NOT added to self.methods so it stays out of the OpenAPI
-        # schema. Instead, we promote the match at routing time and allow
-        # it through in handle().
-        if match == Match.PARTIAL and self._is_head_for_get(scope):
-            match = Match.FULL
+        # schema. Keep the match partial so an explicit HEAD route registered
+        # later can still take precedence.
         if match != Match.NONE:
             child_scope["route"] = self
         return match, child_scope
diff --git a/tests/test_extra_routes.py b/tests/test_extra_routes.py
index a4ca77473d..985adb9439 100644
--- a/tests/test_extra_routes.py
+++ b/tests/test_extra_routes.py
@@ -71,13 +71,9 @@ def test_delete():
 
 
 def test_head():
-    # HEAD is served by the GET handler (registered first) because GET
-    # routes automatically support HEAD per RFC 7231 §4.3.2. The explicit
-    # @app.head handler is shadowed since the GET route matches first.
     response = client.head("/items/foo")
     assert response.status_code == 200, response.text
-    assert response.content == b""
-    assert response.headers["content-type"] == "application/json"
+    assert response.headers["x-fastapi-item-id"] == "foo"
 
 
 def test_options():