diff --git a/packages/core/src/hydration/annotate.ts b/packages/core/src/hydration/annotate.ts
index 1cd80e4ad52..914801ddea3 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/hydration/annotate.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/hydration/annotate.ts
@@ -372,6 +372,9 @@ function serializeLView(lView: LView, context: HydrationContext): SerializedView
         }
       }
     }
+
+    conditionallyAnnotateNodePath(ngh, tNode, lView);
+
     if (isLContainer(lView[i])) {
       // Serialize information about a template.
       const embeddedTView = tNode.tView;
@@ -402,10 +405,6 @@ function serializeLView(lView: LView, context: HydrationContext): SerializedView
       if (!(targetNode as HTMLElement).hasAttribute(SKIP_HYDRATION_ATTR_NAME)) {
         annotateHostElementForHydration(targetNode as RElement, lView[i], context);
       }
-      // Include node path info to the annotation in case `tNode.next` (which hydration
-      // relies upon by default) is different from the `tNode.projectionNext`. This helps
-      // hydration runtime logic to find the right node.
-      annotateNextNodePath(ngh, tNode, lView);
     } else {
       // <ng-container> case
       if (tNode.type & TNodeType.ElementContainer) {
@@ -465,11 +464,6 @@ function serializeLView(lView: LView, context: HydrationContext): SerializedView
             context.corruptedTextNodes.set(rNode, TextNodeMarker.Separator);
           }
         }
-
-        // Include node path info to the annotation in case `tNode.next` (which hydration
-        // relies upon by default) is different from the `tNode.projectionNext`. This helps
-        // hydration runtime logic to find the right node.
-        annotateNextNodePath(ngh, tNode, lView);
       }
     }
   }
@@ -477,16 +471,32 @@ function serializeLView(lView: LView, context: HydrationContext): SerializedView
 }
 
 /**
- * If `tNode.projectionNext` is different from `tNode.next` - it means that
- * the next `tNode` after projection is different from the one in the original
- * template. In this case we need to serialize a path to that next node, so that
- * it can be found at the right location at runtime.
+ * Serializes node location in cases when it's needed, specifically:
+ *
+ *  1. If `tNode.projectionNext` is different from `tNode.next` - it means that
+ *     the next `tNode` after projection is different from the one in the original
+ *     template. Since hydration relies on `tNode.next`, this serialized info
+ *     if required to help runtime code find the node at the correct location.
+ *  2. In certain content projection-based use-cases, it's possible that only
+ *     a content of a projected element is rendered. In this case, content nodes
+ *     require an extra annotation, since runtime logic can't rely on parent-child
+ *     connection to identify the location of a node.
  */
-function annotateNextNodePath(ngh: SerializedView, tNode: TNode, lView: LView<unknown>) {
+function conditionallyAnnotateNodePath(ngh: SerializedView, tNode: TNode, lView: LView<unknown>) {
+  // Handle case #1 described above.
   if (tNode.projectionNext && tNode.projectionNext !== tNode.next &&
       !isInSkipHydrationBlock(tNode.projectionNext)) {
     appendSerializedNodePath(ngh, tNode.projectionNext, lView);
   }
+
+  // Handle case #2 described above.
+  // Note: we only do that for the first node (i.e. when `tNode.prev === null`),
+  // the rest of the nodes would rely on the current node location, so no extra
+  // annotation is needed.
+  if (tNode.prev === null && tNode.parent !== null && isDisconnectedNode(tNode.parent, lView) &&
+      !isDisconnectedNode(tNode, lView)) {
+    appendSerializedNodePath(ngh, tNode, lView);
+  }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -574,5 +584,5 @@ function isContentProjectedNode(tNode: TNode): boolean {
  */
 function isDisconnectedNode(tNode: TNode, lView: LView) {
   return !(tNode.type & TNodeType.Projection) && !!lView[tNode.index] &&
-      !(unwrapRNode(lView[tNode.index]) as Node).isConnected;
+      !(unwrapRNode(lView[tNode.index]) as Node)?.isConnected;
 }
diff --git a/packages/platform-server/test/hydration_spec.ts b/packages/platform-server/test/hydration_spec.ts
index c2e2cf266a4..497e9460b05 100644
--- a/packages/platform-server/test/hydration_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-server/test/hydration_spec.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import '@angular/localize/init';
 
 import {CommonModule, DOCUMENT, isPlatformServer, NgComponentOutlet, NgFor, NgIf, NgTemplateOutlet, PlatformLocation} from '@angular/common';
 import {MockPlatformLocation} from '@angular/common/testing';
-import {afterRender, ApplicationRef, Component, ComponentRef, createComponent, destroyPlatform, Directive, ElementRef, EnvironmentInjector, ErrorHandler, getPlatform, inject, Injectable, Input, NgZone, PLATFORM_ID, Provider, TemplateRef, Type, ViewChild, ViewContainerRef, ViewEncapsulation, ɵsetDocument, ɵwhenStable as whenStable} from '@angular/core';
+import {afterRender, ApplicationRef, Component, ComponentRef, ContentChildren, createComponent, destroyPlatform, Directive, ElementRef, EnvironmentInjector, ErrorHandler, getPlatform, inject, Injectable, Input, NgZone, PLATFORM_ID, Provider, QueryList, TemplateRef, Type, ViewChild, ViewContainerRef, ViewEncapsulation, ɵsetDocument, ɵwhenStable as whenStable} from '@angular/core';
 import {Console} from '@angular/core/src/console';
 import {SSR_CONTENT_INTEGRITY_MARKER} from '@angular/core/src/hydration/utils';
 import {getComponentDef} from '@angular/core/src/render3/definition';
@@ -4168,6 +4168,89 @@ describe('platform-server hydration integration', () => {
         verifyClientAndSSRContentsMatch(ssrContents, clientRootNode);
       });
 
+      it('should allow re-projection of child content', async () => {
+        @Component({
+          standalone: true,
+          selector: 'mat-step',
+          template: `<ng-template><ng-content /></ng-template>`,
+        })
+        class MatStep {
+          @ViewChild(TemplateRef, {static: true}) content!: TemplateRef<any>;
+        }
+
+        @Component({
+          standalone: true,
+          selector: 'mat-stepper',
+          imports: [NgTemplateOutlet],
+          template: `
+            @for (step of steps; track step) {
+              <ng-container [ngTemplateOutlet]="step.content" />
+            }
+          `,
+        })
+        class MatStepper {
+          @ContentChildren(MatStep) steps!: QueryList<MatStep>;
+        }
+
+        @Component({
+          standalone: true,
+          selector: 'nested-cmp',
+          template: 'Nested cmp content',
+        })
+        class NestedCmp {
+        }
+
+        @Component({
+          standalone: true,
+          imports: [MatStepper, MatStep, NgIf, NestedCmp],
+          selector: 'app',
+          template: `
+            <mat-stepper>
+              <mat-step>Text-only content</mat-step>
+
+              <mat-step>
+                <ng-container>Using ng-containers</ng-container>
+              </mat-step>
+
+              <mat-step>
+                <ng-container *ngIf="true">
+                  Using ng-containers with *ngIf
+                </ng-container>
+              </mat-step>
+
+              <mat-step>
+                @if (true) {
+                  Using built-in control flow (if)
+                }
+              </mat-step>
+
+              <mat-step>
+                <nested-cmp />
+              </mat-step>
+
+            </mat-stepper>
+          `,
+        })
+        class App {
+        }
+
+        const html = await ssr(App);
+        const ssrContents = getAppContents(html);
+
+        expect(ssrContents).toContain('<app ngh');
+
+        resetTViewsFor(App, MatStepper, NestedCmp);
+
+        const appRef = await hydrate(html, App);
+        const compRef = getComponentRef<App>(appRef);
+        appRef.tick();
+
+        const clientRootNode = compRef.location.nativeElement;
+        verifyAllNodesClaimedForHydration(clientRootNode);
+        verifyClientAndSSRContentsMatch(ssrContents, clientRootNode);
+      });
+
+
       it('should project plain text and HTML elements', async () => {
         @Component({
           standalone: true,