diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 06a2d9e..02edcfc 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 - fix root-path handling when setting via env var or on app instance
 - Allow `q` parameter to be a `str` not a `list[str]` for Advanced Free-Text extension
+- do not `unquote` parameters for next/prev links
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/stac_fastapi/pgstac/models/links.py b/stac_fastapi/pgstac/models/links.py
index 42b5cf7..64c56fe 100644
--- a/stac_fastapi/pgstac/models/links.py
+++ b/stac_fastapi/pgstac/models/links.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """link helpers."""
 
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
-from urllib.parse import ParseResult, parse_qs, unquote, urlencode, urljoin, urlparse
+from urllib.parse import ParseResult, parse_qs, urlencode, urljoin, urlparse
 
 import attr
 from stac_fastapi.types.requests import get_base_url
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def merge_params(url: str, newparams: Dict) -> str:
     u = urlparse(url)
     params = parse_qs(u.query)
     params.update(newparams)
-    param_string = unquote(urlencode(params, True))
+    param_string = urlencode(params, True)
 
     href = ParseResult(
         scheme=u.scheme,
diff --git a/tests/api/test_links.py b/tests/api/test_links.py
index e8e57a9..a850501 100644
--- a/tests/api/test_links.py
+++ b/tests/api/test_links.py
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import json
+from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlparse
+
 import pytest
 from fastapi import APIRouter, FastAPI
 from starlette.requests import Request
@@ -104,3 +107,36 @@ async def collections(request: Request):
                 assert link["method"] == "GET"
             assert link["href"].startswith(url_prefix)
         assert {"next", "previous", "root", "self"} == {link["rel"] for link in links}
+
+        polygon = {
+            "type": "Polygon",
+            "coordinates": [
+                [
+                    (-180.0, -90.0),
+                    (180.0, -90.0),
+                    (180.0, 90.0),
+                    (-180.0, 90.0),
+                    (-180.0, -90.0),
+                ]
+            ],
+        }
+
+        response = client.get(
+            f"{prefix}/search", params={"limit": 1, "intersects": json.dumps(polygon)}
+        )
+        assert "intersects=%7B%22type%" in str(response.url)
+        assert "limit=1" in str(response.url)
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+        assert "intersects=%7B%22type%" in response.json()["url"]
+        assert "limit=1" in response.json()["url"]
+        links = response.json()["links"]
+        for link in links:
+            if link["rel"] in ["previous", "next"]:
+                assert link["method"] == "GET"
+                assert "intersects=%7B%22type%" in link["href"]
+                u = urlparse(link["href"])
+                params = parse_qs(u.query)
+                assert params["limit"][0] == "1"
+                assert params["intersects"][0] == json.dumps(polygon)
+                r = client.get(link["href"])
+                assert r.status_code == 200