diff --git a/core/modules/widgets/select.js b/core/modules/widgets/select.js
index 07c959550f..ebf84a7ea7 100644
--- a/core/modules/widgets/select.js
+++ b/core/modules/widgets/select.js
@@ -125,13 +125,12 @@ SelectWidget.prototype.setSelectValue = function() {
 			values = Array.isArray(value) ? value : $tw.utils.parseStringArray(value);
 		for(var i=0; i < select.children.length; i++){
 			child=select.children[i];
-			if(child.children.length === 0){
-				child.selected = values.indexOf(child.value) !== -1;
-			} else {
-				// grouped options
+			if(child.tagName && child.tagName.toUpperCase() === "OPTGROUP"){
 				for(var y=0; y < child.children.length; y++){
 					child.children[y].selected = values.indexOf(child.children[y].value) !== -1;
 				}
+			} else {
+				child.selected = values.indexOf(child.value) !== -1;
 			}
 		}
 	} else {
diff --git a/editions/test/tiddlers/tests/test-select-widget.js b/editions/test/tiddlers/tests/test-select-widget.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c99f012675
--- /dev/null
+++ b/editions/test/tiddlers/tests/test-select-widget.js
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+/*\
+title: test-select-widget.js
+type: application/javascript
+tags: [[$:/tags/test-spec]]
+
+Tests the select widget, focused on multi-select refresh behaviour.
+
+\*/
+
+"use strict";
+
+describe("Select widget", function() {
+
+	var widget = require("$:/core/modules/widgets/widget.js");
+
+	// Helpers reused from: test-widget.js and  test-checkbox-widget.js
+	function createWidgetNode(parseTreeNode,wiki) {
+		return new widget.widget(parseTreeNode,{
+			wiki: wiki,
+			document: $tw.fakeDocument
+		});
+	}
+
+	function parseText(text,wiki,options) {
+		var parser = wiki.parseText("text/vnd.tiddlywiki",text,options);
+		return parser ? {type: "widget", children: parser.tree} : undefined;
+	}
+
+	function renderWidgetNode(widgetNode) {
+		$tw.fakeDocument.setSequenceNumber(0);
+		var wrapper = $tw.fakeDocument.createElement("div");
+		widgetNode.render(wrapper,null);
+		return wrapper;
+	}
+
+	function refreshWidgetNode(widgetNode,wrapper,changes) {
+		var changedTiddlers = {};
+		if(changes) {
+			$tw.utils.each(changes,function(title) {
+				changedTiddlers[title] = true;
+			});
+		}
+		widgetNode.refresh(changedTiddlers,wrapper,null);
+	}
+
+	// Don't pass fakedom elements to Jasmine matchers. The matchers pretty-print
+	// values on assertion which walks the element.style Proxy with Symbol keys and
+	// crashes inside convertStyleNameToPropertyName.
+	// TODO: once issue: "fakedom style Proxy guards against non-string property keys" lands
+	//       revert these workarounds to idiomatic matchers (toBe(null), toBeUndefined()).
+	function findSelectDom(node) {
+		if(node.tag === "select") return node;
+		if(node.children) {
+			for(var i = 0; i < node.children.length; i++) {
+				var found = findSelectDom(node.children[i]);
+				if(found) return found;
+			}
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	function selectedFlags(parent) {
+		var result = [];
+		for(var i = 0; i < parent.children.length; i++) {
+			result.push(!!parent.children[i].selected);
+		}
+		return result;
+	}
+
+	// Regression test for https://github.com/TiddlyWiki/TiddlyWiki5/issues/9839
+	// PR #8093 added <optgroup> support but used `child.children.length === 0` to
+	// distinguish a plain <option> from an <optgroup>. That heuristic misfires for
+	// any <option> whose contents render to inline HTML elements (e.g. tc-tiddlylink
+	// auto-links generated for "$:/..." titles), so the option's `selected` state
+	// was never restored on refresh.
+	it("preserves multi-select state across refresh when options contain inline HTML children",function() {
+		var wiki = $tw.test.wiki();
+		wiki.addTiddlers([
+			{title: "Picks", mylist: "foo $:/mumble"}
+		]);
+		// Each option has element children to mimic the auto-link case from #9839.
+		// Explicit value attribute lets fakedom resolve option.value (real browsers
+		// fall back to text content).
+		var widgetText = "<$select tiddler='Picks' field='mylist' multiple>" +
+			"<option value='foo'><span>foo</span></option>" +
+			"<option value='bar'><span>bar</span></option>" +
+			"<option value='$:/mumble'><a class='tc-tiddlylink'>$:/mumble</a></option>" +
+			"</$select>";
+		var widgetNode = createWidgetNode(parseText(widgetText,wiki),wiki);
+		var wrapper = renderWidgetNode(widgetNode);
+		var select = findSelectDom(wrapper);
+		expect(select === null).toBe(false);
+		expect(select.children.length).toBe(3);
+
+		// After initial render, options matching the field value should be selected.
+		// foo (idx 0), bar (idx 1), $:/mumble (idx 2).
+		expect(selectedFlags(select)).toEqual([true,false,true]);
+
+		// Change the stored field value and refresh - this is where the bug surfaced:
+		// the "$:/mumble" option (with an <a> child) was wrongly skipped.
+		wiki.addTiddler({title: "Picks", mylist: "bar $:/mumble"});
+		refreshWidgetNode(widgetNode,wrapper,["Picks"]);
+
+		expect(selectedFlags(select)).toEqual([false,true,true]);
+		// The inner <a> must not be touched - .selected is meaningful only on <option>.
+		var innerLinkSelected = select.children[2].children[0].selected;
+		expect(innerLinkSelected === undefined).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it("still selects options inside <optgroup> across refresh, including $:/-prefixed entries with inline HTML",function() {
+		var wiki = $tw.test.wiki();
+		wiki.addTiddlers([
+			{title: "Picks", mylist: "1 $:/mumble"}
+		]);
+		// The "high" group mixes a plain option with a $:/-prefixed option whose
+		// content is wrapped in an auto-link <a> - same pattern that broke #9839
+		// for top-level options, exercised here inside an <optgroup>.
+		var widgetText = "<$select tiddler='Picks' field='mylist' multiple>" +
+			"<optgroup label='low'>" +
+				"<option value='1'>1</option>" +
+				"<option value='2'>2</option>" +
+			"</optgroup>" +
+			"<optgroup label='high'>" +
+				"<option value='4'>4</option>" +
+				"<option value='$:/mumble'><a class='tc-tiddlylink'>$:/mumble</a></option>" +
+			"</optgroup>" +
+			"</$select>";
+		var widgetNode = createWidgetNode(parseText(widgetText,wiki),wiki);
+		var wrapper = renderWidgetNode(widgetNode);
+		var select = findSelectDom(wrapper);
+		expect(select === null).toBe(false);
+		expect(select.children.length).toBe(2);
+
+		// Initial state: "1" and "$:/mumble" selected
+		expect(selectedFlags(select.children[0])).toEqual([true,false]);
+		expect(selectedFlags(select.children[1])).toEqual([false,true]);
+
+		wiki.addTiddler({title: "Picks", mylist: "2 4"});
+		refreshWidgetNode(widgetNode,wrapper,["Picks"]);
+		expect(selectedFlags(select.children[0])).toEqual([false,true]);
+		expect(selectedFlags(select.children[1])).toEqual([true,false]);
+	});
+
+});