diff --git a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/ssl/SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategy.java b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/ssl/SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategy.java
index 99c91a1311..fbc93f54fa 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/ssl/SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategy.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/ssl/SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategy.java
@@ -135,9 +135,9 @@ private static final class Rule {
             if (pins == null || pins.isEmpty()) {
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("At least one SPKI pin is required for " + pattern);
             }
-            this.pattern = norm;
+            this.pattern = stripRootDot(norm);
             this.wildcard = wc;
-            this.tail = wc ? norm.substring(1) : null; // ".example.com"
+            this.tail = wc ? this.pattern.substring(1) : null; // ".example.com"
             this.pins = Collections.unmodifiableSet(new HashSet<>(pins));
         }
 
@@ -180,7 +180,9 @@ protected void verifySession(final String hostname, final SSLSession sslSession)
         final String host;
         try {
             // Canonicalize host: IDNA (Punycode) + lowercase for consistent matching.
-            host = IDN.toASCII(hostname == null ? "" : hostname).toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
+            // The absolute form "api.example.com." names the same host and passes the
+            // built-in hostname check, so it must be matched against the same rules.
+            host = stripRootDot(IDN.toASCII(hostname == null ? "" : hostname).toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT));
         } catch (final IllegalArgumentException e) {
             throw new SSLException("Invalid IDN host: " + hostname, e);
         }
@@ -286,6 +288,10 @@ private static ByteArrayKey parsePin(final String s) {
     }
 
 
+    private static String stripRootDot(final String host) {
+        return host.length() > 1 && host.endsWith(".") ? host.substring(0, host.length() - 1) : host;
+    }
+
     private List<Rule> matchedRules(final String host) {
         final List<Rule> out = new ArrayList<>();
         for (int i = 0; i < rules.size(); i++) {
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/ssl/SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategyTest.java b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/ssl/SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategyTest.java
index 422ac92e41..3a7d477bbd 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/ssl/SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategyTest.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/test/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/ssl/SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategyTest.java
@@ -221,6 +221,19 @@ void verifySessionInvalidIdnThrowsSslException() throws NoSuchAlgorithmException
         assertThrows(SSLException.class, () -> s.verifySession("\uDC00bad", session));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void verifySessionEnforcesPinsForTrailingDotHost() throws Exception {
+        final SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategy strategy = SpkiPinningClientTlsStrategy
+                .newBuilder(SSLContext.getDefault())
+                .add("api.example.com", sha256Pin(new byte[]{8, 8, 8}))
+                .add("*.example.org", sha256Pin(new byte[]{8, 8, 8}))
+                .build();
+
+        final SSLSession session = new FakeSession(new X509WithKey(new byte[]{7, 7, 7}));
+        assertThrows(SSLException.class, () -> strategy.verifySession("api.example.com.", session));
+        assertThrows(SSLException.class, () -> strategy.verifySession("svc.example.org.", session));
+    }
+
     @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
     private static final class X509WithKey extends X509Certificate {
         private final PublicKey key;