diff --git a/ckanext/contact/routes/_helpers.py b/ckanext/contact/routes/_helpers.py
index 759d712..984ab70 100644
--- a/ckanext/contact/routes/_helpers.py
+++ b/ckanext/contact/routes/_helpers.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 from ckan.lib.navl.dictization_functions import unflatten
 from ckan.plugins import PluginImplementations, toolkit
 from pyisemail import is_email
-from urllib.parse import urlparse
+from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlencode, urlparse, urlunparse
 
 from ckanext.contact import recaptcha
 from ckanext.contact.interfaces import IContact
@@ -21,6 +21,33 @@
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def clean_referrer_url(url, contact_path='/contact'):
+    """
+    Remove Cloudflare challenge query parameters from a URL. If the cleaned URL
+    is just the contact page itself return an empty string.
+
+    :param url: the referrer URL to clean
+    :param contact_path: the path of the contact page to detect self-references
+    :returns: the cleaned URL, or empty string if the URL is empty or self-referencing
+    """
+    if not url:
+        return ''
+    try:
+        parsed = urlparse(url)
+        params = parse_qs(parsed.query, keep_blank_values=True)
+        cleaned_params = {k: v for k, v in params.items() if not k.startswith('__cf_chl_')}
+        cleaned_url = urlunparse(parsed._replace(query=urlencode(cleaned_params, doseq=True)))
+        cleaned_parsed = urlparse(cleaned_url)
+        if (
+            cleaned_parsed.path.rstrip('/') == contact_path.rstrip('/')
+            and not cleaned_params
+        ):
+            return ''
+        return cleaned_url
+    except Exception:
+        return ''
+
+
 def validate(data_dict):
     """
     Validates the given data and recaptcha if necessary.
@@ -55,13 +82,13 @@ def validate(data_dict):
             errors['email'] = ['Email address appears to be invalid']
             error_summary['email'] = 'Email address appears to be invalid'
 
-    # check if referrer_url starts with site_url
-    referrer_url = data_dict.get('referrer_url', '').strip()
+    # clean and validate referrer_url
+    referrer_url = clean_referrer_url(data_dict.get('referrer_url', '').strip())
     if referrer_url:
         site_url = toolkit.config.get('ckan.site_url', '')
-        if site_url:
-            if not referrer_url.startswith(site_url):
-                data_dict.pop('referrer_url', None)
+        if site_url and not referrer_url.startswith(site_url):
+            referrer_url = ''
+    data_dict['referrer_url'] = referrer_url
 
     # only check the recaptcha if there are no errors
     if not errors:
diff --git a/ckanext/contact/routes/contact.py b/ckanext/contact/routes/contact.py
index cb0a2d8..484cb8a 100644
--- a/ckanext/contact/routes/contact.py
+++ b/ckanext/contact/routes/contact.py
@@ -73,6 +73,14 @@ def form():
         except AttributeError:
             extra_vars['data']['name'] = extra_vars['data']['email'] = None
 
+        # Get the referrer URL from the request
+        raw_referrer = (
+            toolkit.request.args.get('referrer_url')
+            or toolkit.request.referrer
+            or ''
+        )
+        extra_vars['data']['referrer_url'] = _helpers.clean_referrer_url(raw_referrer)
+
     return toolkit.render('contact/form.html', extra_vars=extra_vars)
 
 
diff --git a/ckanext/contact/tests/unit/test_helpers.py b/ckanext/contact/tests/unit/test_helpers.py
index 00e7cfa..590451a 100644
--- a/ckanext/contact/tests/unit/test_helpers.py
+++ b/ckanext/contact/tests/unit/test_helpers.py
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@
 from mock import patch, MagicMock
 from freezegun import freeze_time
 
-from ckanext.contact.routes._helpers import build_subject, get_dataset_title_from_url
+from ckanext.contact.routes._helpers import (
+    build_subject,
+    clean_referrer_url,
+    get_dataset_title_from_url,
+)
 
 
 class TestBuildSubject:
@@ -86,6 +90,59 @@ def test_prefix_provided(self):
         assert subject == 'PREFIX: TEST'
 
 
+class TestCleanReferrerUrl:
+    def test_empty_string_returns_empty(self):
+        assert clean_referrer_url('') == ''
+
+    def test_none_returns_empty(self):
+        assert clean_referrer_url(None) == ''
+
+    def test_clean_url_passes_through(self):
+        url = 'https://example.com/dataset/my-dataset'
+        assert clean_referrer_url(url) == url
+
+    def test_strips_cf_chl_tk_param(self):
+        url = 'https://example.com/dataset/foo?__cf_chl_tk=abc123'
+        assert clean_referrer_url(url) == 'https://example.com/dataset/foo'
+
+    def test_strips_multiple_cf_params(self):
+        url = (
+            'https://example.com/dataset/foo'
+            '?__cf_chl_tk=abc&__cf_chl_rt_tk=def&__cf_chl_f_tk=ghi'
+        )
+        assert clean_referrer_url(url) == 'https://example.com/dataset/foo'
+
+    def test_preserves_non_cf_params(self):
+        url = 'https://example.com/dataset/foo?page=2&__cf_chl_tk=abc&sort=name'
+        result = clean_referrer_url(url)
+        assert '__cf_chl_tk' not in result
+        assert 'page=2' in result
+        assert 'sort=name' in result
+
+    def test_contact_self_reference_returns_empty(self):
+        url = 'https://example.com/contact?__cf_chl_tk=abc123'
+        assert clean_referrer_url(url) == ''
+
+    def test_contact_self_reference_with_trailing_slash(self):
+        url = 'https://example.com/contact/?__cf_chl_tk=abc123'
+        assert clean_referrer_url(url, contact_path='/contact/') == ''
+
+    def test_contact_with_real_params_not_discarded(self):
+        url = 'https://example.com/contact?subject=hello&__cf_chl_tk=abc'
+        result = clean_referrer_url(url)
+        assert result != ''
+        assert 'subject=hello' in result
+        assert '__cf_chl_tk' not in result
+
+    def test_custom_contact_path(self):
+        url = 'https://example.com/feedback?__cf_chl_tk=abc'
+        assert clean_referrer_url(url, contact_path='/feedback') == ''
+
+    def test_non_contact_page_with_only_cf_params(self):
+        url = 'https://example.com/dataset/foo?__cf_chl_tk=abc'
+        assert clean_referrer_url(url) == 'https://example.com/dataset/foo'
+
+
 class TestGetDatasetTitleFromUrl:
     @patch('ckanext.contact.routes._helpers.toolkit.get_action')
     def test_valid_dataset_url_returns_title(self, mock_get_action):
diff --git a/ckanext/contact/theme/assets/modules/form-contact.js b/ckanext/contact/theme/assets/modules/form-contact.js
index a1e36e0..9c1180a 100644
--- a/ckanext/contact/theme/assets/modules/form-contact.js
+++ b/ckanext/contact/theme/assets/modules/form-contact.js
@@ -18,10 +18,29 @@ ckan.module('form-contact', function ($, _) {
     initialize: function () {
       self = this;
 
-      // populate the referrer URL field with document.referrer
+      // populate the referrer URL field only if not already set by the server
       const referrerField = self.el.find('#field-referrer-url');
-      if (referrerField.length) {
-        referrerField.val(document.referrer || '');
+      if (referrerField.length && !referrerField.val()) {
+        var referrer = document.referrer || '';
+        if (referrer) {
+          try {
+            var url = new URL(referrer);
+            var keys = Array.from(url.searchParams.keys());
+            keys.forEach(function (key) {
+              if (key.startsWith('__cf_chl_')) {
+                url.searchParams.delete(key);
+              }
+            });
+            var isSelfRef =
+              url.pathname.replace(/\/$/, '') ===
+                window.location.pathname.replace(/\/$/, '') &&
+              !url.searchParams.toString();
+            referrer = isSelfRef ? '' : url.toString();
+          } catch (e) {
+            // invalid URL, leave referrer as-is
+          }
+        }
+        referrerField.val(referrer);
       }
 
       // setup the recaptcha context
diff --git a/ckanext/contact/theme/assets/modules/modal-contact.js b/ckanext/contact/theme/assets/modules/modal-contact.js
index 6ace960..cdd065b 100644
--- a/ckanext/contact/theme/assets/modules/modal-contact.js
+++ b/ckanext/contact/theme/assets/modules/modal-contact.js
@@ -50,10 +50,23 @@ ckan.module('modal-contact', function ($, _) {
           );
 
           self.modal = $(html);
-          // populate the referrer URL field with the current page URL
+          // populate the referrer URL field with the current page URL, stripping CF params
           const referrerField = self.modal.find('#field-referrer-url');
           if (referrerField.length) {
-            referrerField.val(window.location.href || '');
+            var href = window.location.href || '';
+            try {
+              var url = new URL(href);
+              var keys = Array.from(url.searchParams.keys());
+              keys.forEach(function (key) {
+                if (key.startsWith('__cf_chl_')) {
+                  url.searchParams.delete(key);
+                }
+              });
+              href = url.toString();
+            } catch (e) {
+              // invalid URL, leave href as-is
+            }
+            referrerField.val(href);
           }
           // add a close button to the modal
           self.modal
diff --git a/ckanext/contact/theme/templates/contact/snippets/form.html b/ckanext/contact/theme/templates/contact/snippets/form.html
index 92bb533..7f0db77 100644
--- a/ckanext/contact/theme/templates/contact/snippets/form.html
+++ b/ckanext/contact/theme/templates/contact/snippets/form.html
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
                                  value=data.content, error=errors.content,
                                  placeholder=_('What do you have to tell us?'), is_required=true) }}
 
-                <input type="hidden" name="referrer_url" id="field-referrer-url" value="" />
+                <input type="hidden" name="referrer_url" id="field-referrer-url" value="{{ data.get('referrer_url', '') }}" />
             {% endblock %}
         </fieldset>
 
diff --git a/ckanext/contact/theme/templates/header.html b/ckanext/contact/theme/templates/header.html
index 965faa1..9f94216 100644
--- a/ckanext/contact/theme/templates/header.html
+++ b/ckanext/contact/theme/templates/header.html
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 {% block contact_link %}
     <li>
-      <a href="{{ h.url_for('contact.form') }}" title="{{ _('Contact') }}">
+      <a href="{{ h.url_for('contact.form', referrer_url=h.full_current_url()) }}" title="{{ _('Contact') }}">
         {% if c.userobj %}
           <i class="fas fa fa-envelope"></i>
         {% else %}