diff --git a/shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml b/shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml
index 240196a3..4b2e7176 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml
+++ b/shell/plugins/menu/Menu.qml
@@ -841,17 +841,7 @@ Item {
   // in JSONC (`power`, `reminder-set`). Unknown strings fall through to the
   // id-as-route behavior so misspellings still attempt to open the literal id.
   function resolveRoute(input) {
-    var raw = String(input || "").toLowerCase().replace(/_/g, "-")
-    if (!raw || raw === "go" || raw === "menu") return "root"
-    for (var i = 0; i < root.itemOrder.length; i++) {
-      var entry = root.items[root.itemOrder[i]]
-      if (!entry || !entry.aliases) continue
-      for (var j = 0; j < entry.aliases.length; j++) {
-        var alias = String(entry.aliases[j] || "").toLowerCase().replace(/_/g, "-")
-        if (alias === raw) return entry.id
-      }
-    }
-    return raw
+    return MenuModel.resolveRoute(root.items, root.itemOrder, input)
   }
 
   function openRoute(initialMenu) {
diff --git a/shell/plugins/menu/MenuModel.js b/shell/plugins/menu/MenuModel.js
index e6bd990b..1908dbe0 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/menu/MenuModel.js
+++ b/shell/plugins/menu/MenuModel.js
@@ -167,6 +167,28 @@ function item(items, id) {
   return items && items[id] ? items[id] : null
 }
 
+// Routes may name a real id (`system`, `setup.power`) or an alias declared in
+// JSONC (`power-menu`, `settings`). An exact id beats any alias, and app rows
+// are never routable: their aliases carry .desktop Keywords and GenericName
+// for search, so an installed application could otherwise shadow a menu route
+// (htop ships `Keywords=system;...`). Unknown strings fall through as the
+// literal input so misspellings still attempt to open that id.
+function resolveRoute(items, itemOrder, input) {
+  var raw = String(input || "").toLowerCase().replace(/_/g, "-")
+  if (!raw || raw === "go" || raw === "menu") return "root"
+  if (item(items, raw)) return raw
+  var order = Array.isArray(itemOrder) ? itemOrder : []
+  for (var i = 0; i < order.length; i++) {
+    var entry = item(items, order[i])
+    if (!entry || entry.kind === "app" || !entry.aliases) continue
+    for (var j = 0; j < entry.aliases.length; j++) {
+      var alias = String(entry.aliases[j] || "").toLowerCase().replace(/_/g, "-")
+      if (alias === raw) return entry.id
+    }
+  }
+  return raw
+}
+
 function slugify(value) {
   return String(value || "").toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, "-").replace(/^-+|-+$/g, "") || "item"
 }
@@ -360,6 +382,7 @@ if (typeof module !== "undefined") {
     mergeAppRows: mergeAppRows,
     swapProviderRows: swapProviderRows,
     item: item,
+    resolveRoute: resolveRoute,
     slugify: slugify,
     depthFor: depthFor,
     pathFor: pathFor,
diff --git a/test/shell.d/menu-test.sh b/test/shell.d/menu-test.sh
index 870c40ed..925a3d63 100644
--- a/test/shell.d/menu-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/menu-test.sh
@@ -135,6 +135,24 @@ assert(
   rankScore('style.font', 'font') < rankScore('apps.fontforge', 'font'),
   'menu keeps a better-matching menu entry above a weaker app match'
 )
+
+// Routing: htop ships `Keywords=system;...`, which app rows carry as aliases.
+// An installed app must never capture a menu route (SUPER+ESCAPE opens the
+// `system` menu), while its keywords keep working for search.
+const routed = menu.mergeAppRows(rankBase.items, rankBase.itemOrder, [
+  { id: 'apps.htop', parent: 'apps', kind: 'app', label: 'Htop', description: 'Process Viewer', aliases: ['Process Viewer', 'system', 'process'] }
+])
+assertEqual(menu.resolveRoute(routed.items, routed.itemOrder, 'system'), 'system', 'menu routes an exact id even when an app keyword matches it')
+assertEqual(menu.resolveRoute(routed.items, routed.itemOrder, 'process'), 'process', 'menu never routes to an app row through its keywords')
+assertEqual(menu.resolveRoute(routed.items, routed.itemOrder, 'power-menu'), 'system', 'menu routes declared aliases to their item')
+assertEqual(menu.resolveRoute(routed.items, routed.itemOrder, 'power_menu'), 'system', 'menu normalizes underscores in routes')
+assertEqual(menu.resolveRoute(routed.items, routed.itemOrder, ''), 'root', 'menu routes empty input to root')
+assertEqual(menu.resolveRoute(routed.items, routed.itemOrder, 'no-such-route'), 'no-such-route', 'menu falls through to the literal input')
+assert(menu.matchesQuery(routed.items['apps.htop'], 'system', true), 'menu still finds an app by its keywords in search')
+assert(
+  /function resolveRoute\(input\) \{\s*\n\s*return MenuModel\.resolveRoute\(root\.items, root\.itemOrder, input\)\s*\n\s*\}/.test(menuQml),
+  'menu delegates route resolution to the shared model'
+)
 const triggerItems = defaultItems.filter(item => item.parent === 'trigger')
 assertEqual(
   triggerItems[0].id,