diff --git a/modules/markup/markdown/goldmark.go b/modules/markup/markdown/goldmark.go
index ab731ac0ed..555a171685 100644
--- a/modules/markup/markdown/goldmark.go
+++ b/modules/markup/markdown/goldmark.go
@@ -84,11 +84,6 @@ func (g *ASTTransformer) Transform(node *ast.Document, reader text.Reader, pc pa
 			ctx.TocShowInSection = markup.TocShowInMain
 		case showTocInSidebar:
 			ctx.TocShowInSection = markup.TocShowInSidebar
-			// Also populate SidebarTocHeaders for README/file view (not used by Wiki)
-			ctx.SidebarTocHeaders = make([]markup.Header, len(tocList))
-			for i, h := range tocList {
-				ctx.SidebarTocHeaders[i] = markup.Header{Level: h.Level, Text: h.Text, ID: h.ID}
-			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/modules/markup/orgmode/orgmode.go b/modules/markup/orgmode/orgmode.go
index f3811fb71f..d84c0fb861 100644
--- a/modules/markup/orgmode/orgmode.go
+++ b/modules/markup/orgmode/orgmode.go
@@ -77,7 +77,10 @@ func Render(ctx *markup.RenderContext, input io.Reader, output io.Writer) error
 	}
 
 	// Extract headers from the document outline for sidebar TOC
-	ctx.SidebarTocHeaders = extractHeadersFromOutline(doc.Outline)
+	ctx.TocHeadingItems = extractTocHeadingItems(doc.Outline)
+	if len(ctx.TocHeadingItems) > 0 {
+		ctx.TocShowInSection = markup.TocShowInSidebar
+	}
 
 	res, err := doc.Write(w)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -87,15 +90,15 @@ func Render(ctx *markup.RenderContext, input io.Reader, output io.Writer) error
 	return err
 }
 
-// extractHeadersFromOutline recursively extracts headers from org document outline
-func extractHeadersFromOutline(outline org.Outline) []markup.Header {
-	var headers []markup.Header
-	collectHeaders(outline.Section, &headers)
-	return headers
+// extractTocHeadingItems recursively extracts headers from org document outline
+func extractTocHeadingItems(outline org.Outline) []*markup.TocHeadingItem {
+	var items []*markup.TocHeadingItem
+	collectTocHeadingItems(outline.Section, &items)
+	return items
 }
 
-// collectHeaders recursively collects headers from sections
-func collectHeaders(section *org.Section, headers *[]markup.Header) {
+// collectTocHeadingItems recursively collects headers from sections
+func collectTocHeadingItems(section *org.Section, items *[]*markup.TocHeadingItem) {
 	if section == nil {
 		return
 	}
@@ -105,16 +108,16 @@ func collectHeaders(section *org.Section, headers *[]markup.Header) {
 		h := section.Headline
 		// Convert headline title nodes to plain text
 		titleText := org.String(h.Title...)
-		*headers = append(*headers, markup.Header{
-			Level: h.Lvl,
-			Text:  titleText,
-			ID:    h.ID(),
+		*items = append(*items, &markup.TocHeadingItem{
+			HeadingLevel: h.Lvl,
+			InnerText:    titleText,
+			AnchorID:     h.ID(),
 		})
 	}
 
 	// Process child sections
 	for _, child := range section.Children {
-		collectHeaders(child, headers)
+		collectTocHeadingItems(child, items)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/markup/render.go b/modules/markup/render.go
index 87c9d5fe48..2f6d8f054b 100644
--- a/modules/markup/render.go
+++ b/modules/markup/render.go
@@ -91,8 +91,6 @@ type RenderContext struct {
 	TocShowInSection TocShowInSectionType
 	TocHeadingItems  []*TocHeadingItem
 
-	SidebarTocHeaders []Header // Headers for generating sidebar TOC (used by README/file view)
-
 	RenderHelper   RenderHelper
 	RenderOptions  RenderOptions
 	RenderInternal internal.RenderInternal
diff --git a/modules/markup/sidebar_toc.go b/modules/markup/sidebar_toc.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 7ce9b3535d..0000000000
--- a/modules/markup/sidebar_toc.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,77 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2026 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
-
-package markup
-
-import (
-	"html"
-	"html/template"
-	"net/url"
-	"strings"
-
-	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/translation"
-)
-
-// RenderSidebarTocHTML renders a list of headers into HTML for sidebar TOC display.
-// It generates a <details> element with nested <ul> lists representing the header hierarchy.
-func RenderSidebarTocHTML(headers []Header, lang string) template.HTML {
-	if len(headers) == 0 {
-		return ""
-	}
-
-	var sb strings.Builder
-
-	// Start with <details open>
-	sb.WriteString(`<details open>`)
-	sb.WriteString(`<summary>`)
-	sb.WriteString(html.EscapeString(translation.NewLocale(lang).TrString("toc")))
-	sb.WriteString(`</summary>`)
-
-	// Find the minimum level to start with
-	minLevel := 6
-	for _, header := range headers {
-		if header.Level < minLevel {
-			minLevel = header.Level
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Build nested list structure
-	currentLevel := minLevel
-	sb.WriteString(`<ul>`)
-	openLists := 1
-
-	for _, header := range headers {
-		// Close lists if we need to go up levels
-		for currentLevel > header.Level {
-			sb.WriteString(`</ul>`)
-			openLists--
-			currentLevel--
-		}
-
-		// Open new lists if we need to go down levels
-		for currentLevel < header.Level {
-			sb.WriteString(`<ul>`)
-			openLists++
-			currentLevel++
-		}
-
-		// Write the list item with link
-		sb.WriteString(`<li>`)
-		sb.WriteString(`<a href="#`)
-		sb.WriteString(url.QueryEscape(header.ID))
-		sb.WriteString(`">`)
-		sb.WriteString(html.EscapeString(header.Text))
-		sb.WriteString(`</a>`)
-		sb.WriteString(`</li>`)
-	}
-
-	// Close all remaining open lists
-	for openLists > 0 {
-		sb.WriteString(`</ul>`)
-		openLists--
-	}
-
-	sb.WriteString(`</details>`)
-
-	return template.HTML(sb.String())
-}
diff --git a/routers/web/repo/view.go b/routers/web/repo/view.go
index 6c149529b4..6003b2aeb8 100644
--- a/routers/web/repo/view.go
+++ b/routers/web/repo/view.go
@@ -174,9 +174,11 @@ func markupRenderToHTML(ctx *context.Context, renderCtx *markup.RenderContext, r
 	return escaped, output, err
 }
 
-func renderSidebarTocHTML(rctx *markup.RenderContext, lang string) template.HTML {
-	if len(rctx.SidebarTocHeaders) > 0 {
-		return markup.RenderSidebarTocHTML(rctx.SidebarTocHeaders, lang)
+func renderSidebarTocHTML(rctx *markup.RenderContext) template.HTML {
+	if rctx.TocShowInSection == markup.TocShowInSidebar && len(rctx.TocHeadingItems) > 0 {
+		sb := strings.Builder{}
+		markup.RenderTocHeadingItems(rctx, map[string]string{"open": ""}, &sb)
+		return template.HTML(sb.String())
 	}
 	return ""
 }
diff --git a/routers/web/repo/view_file.go b/routers/web/repo/view_file.go
index 67b35e21c8..dedff1d563 100644
--- a/routers/web/repo/view_file.go
+++ b/routers/web/repo/view_file.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func handleFileViewRenderMarkup(ctx *context.Context, prefetchBuf []byte, utf8Re
 		return true
 	}
 
-	ctx.Data["FileSidebarHTML"] = renderSidebarTocHTML(rctx, ctx.Locale.Language())
+	ctx.Data["FileSidebarHTML"] = renderSidebarTocHTML(rctx)
 	return true
 }
 
diff --git a/routers/web/repo/view_readme.go b/routers/web/repo/view_readme.go
index 77b7286451..6641edd834 100644
--- a/routers/web/repo/view_readme.go
+++ b/routers/web/repo/view_readme.go
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ func prepareToRenderReadmeFile(ctx *context.Context, subfolder string, readmeFil
 			delete(ctx.Data, "IsMarkup")
 		}
 
-		ctx.Data["FileSidebarHTML"] = renderSidebarTocHTML(rctx, ctx.Locale.Language())
+		ctx.Data["FileSidebarHTML"] = renderSidebarTocHTML(rctx)
 	}
 
 	if ctx.Data["IsMarkup"] != true {