diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops/fetchTree.cc b/src/libexpr/primops/fetchTree.cc
index e673e55a0..ee2ca375a 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops/fetchTree.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops/fetchTree.cc
@@ -561,14 +561,22 @@ static void fetch(
                 .hash = *expectedHash,
                 .references = {}});
 
-        if (state.store->isValidPath(expectedPath)) {
+        // Try to get the path from the local store or substituters
+        try {
+            state.store->ensurePath(expectedPath);
+            debug("using substituted/cached path '%s' for '%s'", state.store->printStorePath(expectedPath), *url);
             state.allowAndSetStorePathString(expectedPath, v);
             return;
+        } catch (Error & e) {
+            debug(
+                "substitution of '%s' failed, will try to download: %s",
+                state.store->printStorePath(expectedPath),
+                e.what());
+            // Fall through to download
         }
     }
 
-    // TODO: fetching may fail, yet the path may be substitutable.
-    //       https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/4313
+    // Download the file/tarball if substitution failed or no hash was provided
     auto storePath = unpack ? fetchToStore(
                                   state.fetchSettings,
                                   *state.store,
diff --git a/tests/nixos/default.nix b/tests/nixos/default.nix
index 5a1e08528..edfa4124f 100644
--- a/tests/nixos/default.nix
+++ b/tests/nixos/default.nix
@@ -207,5 +207,7 @@ in
 
   fetchurl = runNixOSTest ./fetchurl.nix;
 
+  fetchersSubstitute = runNixOSTest ./fetchers-substitute.nix;
+
   chrootStore = runNixOSTest ./chroot-store.nix;
 }
diff --git a/tests/nixos/fetchers-substitute.nix b/tests/nixos/fetchers-substitute.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..453982677
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/nixos/fetchers-substitute.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+{
+  name = "fetchers-substitute";
+
+  nodes.substituter =
+    { pkgs, ... }:
+    {
+      virtualisation.writableStore = true;
+
+      nix.settings.extra-experimental-features = [
+        "nix-command"
+        "fetch-tree"
+      ];
+
+      networking.firewall.allowedTCPPorts = [ 5000 ];
+
+      services.nix-serve = {
+        enable = true;
+        secretKeyFile =
+          let
+            key = pkgs.writeTextFile {
+              name = "secret-key";
+              text = ''
+                substituter:SerxxAca5NEsYY0DwVo+subokk+OoHcD9m6JwuctzHgSQVfGHe6nCc+NReDjV3QdFYPMGix4FMg0+K/TM1B3aA==
+              '';
+            };
+          in
+          "${key}";
+      };
+    };
+
+  nodes.importer =
+    { lib, ... }:
+    {
+      virtualisation.writableStore = true;
+
+      nix.settings = {
+        extra-experimental-features = [
+          "nix-command"
+          "fetch-tree"
+        ];
+        substituters = lib.mkForce [ "http://substituter:5000" ];
+        trusted-public-keys = lib.mkForce [ "substituter:EkFXxh3upwnPjUXg41d0HRWDzBoseBTINPiv0zNQd2g=" ];
+      };
+    };
+
+  testScript =
+    { nodes }: # python
+    ''
+      import json
+
+      start_all()
+
+      substituter.wait_for_unit("multi-user.target")
+
+      ##########################################
+      # Test 1: builtins.fetchurl with substitution
+      ##########################################
+
+      missing_file = "/only-on-substituter.txt"
+
+      substituter.succeed(f"echo 'this should only exist on the substituter' > {missing_file}")
+
+      file_hash = substituter.succeed(f"nix hash file {missing_file}").strip()
+
+      file_store_path_json = substituter.succeed(f"""
+        nix-instantiate --eval --json --read-write-mode --expr '
+          builtins.fetchurl {{
+            url = "file://{missing_file}";
+            sha256 = "{file_hash}";
+          }}
+        '
+      """)
+
+      file_store_path = json.loads(file_store_path_json)
+
+      substituter.succeed(f"nix store sign --key-file ${nodes.substituter.services.nix-serve.secretKeyFile} {file_store_path}")
+
+      importer.wait_for_unit("multi-user.target")
+
+      print("Testing fetchurl with substitution...")
+      importer.succeed(f"""
+        nix-instantiate -vvvvv --eval --json --read-write-mode --expr '
+          builtins.fetchurl {{
+            url = "file://{missing_file}";
+            sha256 = "{file_hash}";
+          }}
+        '
+      """)
+      print("✓ fetchurl substitution works!")
+
+      ##########################################
+      # Test 2: builtins.fetchTarball with substitution
+      ##########################################
+
+      missing_tarball = "/only-on-substituter.tar.gz"
+
+      # Create a directory with some content
+      substituter.succeed("""
+        mkdir -p /tmp/test-tarball
+        echo 'Hello from tarball!' > /tmp/test-tarball/hello.txt
+        echo 'Another file' > /tmp/test-tarball/file2.txt
+      """)
+
+      # Create a tarball
+      substituter.succeed(f"tar czf {missing_tarball} -C /tmp test-tarball")
+
+      # For fetchTarball, we need to first fetch it without hash to get the store path,
+      # then compute the NAR hash of that path
+      tarball_store_path_json = substituter.succeed(f"""
+        nix-instantiate --eval --json --read-write-mode --expr '
+          builtins.fetchTarball {{
+            url = "file://{missing_tarball}";
+          }}
+        '
+      """)
+
+      tarball_store_path = json.loads(tarball_store_path_json)
+
+      # Get the NAR hash of the unpacked tarball in SRI format
+      path_info_json = substituter.succeed(f"nix path-info --json {tarball_store_path}").strip()
+      path_info_dict = json.loads(path_info_json)
+      # nix path-info returns a dict with store paths as keys
+      tarball_hash_sri = path_info_dict[tarball_store_path]["narHash"]
+      print(f"Tarball NAR hash (SRI): {tarball_hash_sri}")
+
+      # Also get the old format hash for fetchTarball (which uses sha256 parameter)
+      tarball_hash = substituter.succeed(f"nix-store --query --hash {tarball_store_path}").strip()
+
+      # Sign the tarball's store path
+      substituter.succeed(f"nix store sign --recursive --key-file ${nodes.substituter.services.nix-serve.secretKeyFile} {tarball_store_path}")
+
+      # Now try to fetch the same tarball on the importer
+      # The file doesn't exist locally, so it should be substituted
+      print("Testing fetchTarball with substitution...")
+      result = importer.succeed(f"""
+        nix-instantiate -vvvvv --eval --json --read-write-mode --expr '
+          builtins.fetchTarball {{
+            url = "file://{missing_tarball}";
+            sha256 = "{tarball_hash}";
+          }}
+        '
+      """)
+
+      result_path = json.loads(result)
+      print(f"✓ fetchTarball substitution works! Result: {result_path}")
+
+      # Verify the content is correct
+      # fetchTarball strips the top-level directory if there's only one
+      content = importer.succeed(f"cat {result_path}/hello.txt").strip()
+      assert content == "Hello from tarball!", f"Content mismatch: {content}"
+      print("✓ fetchTarball content verified!")
+
+      ##########################################
+      # Test 3: Verify fetchTree does NOT substitute (preserves metadata)
+      ##########################################
+
+      print("Testing that fetchTree without __final does NOT use substitution...")
+
+      # fetchTree with just narHash (not __final) should try to download, which will fail
+      # since the file doesn't exist on the importer
+      exit_code = importer.fail(f"""
+        nix-instantiate --eval --json --read-write-mode --expr '
+          builtins.fetchTree {{
+            type = "tarball";
+            url = "file:///only-on-substituter.tar.gz";
+            narHash = "{tarball_hash_sri}";
+          }}
+        ' 2>&1
+      """)
+
+      # Should fail with "does not exist" since it tries to download instead of substituting
+      assert "does not exist" in exit_code or "Couldn't open file" in exit_code, f"Expected download failure, got: {exit_code}"
+      print("✓ fetchTree correctly does NOT substitute non-final inputs!")
+      print("  (This preserves metadata like lastModified from the actual fetch)")
+    '';
+}