diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/instagram.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/instagram.py
index 55086d0b29..b564833943 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/instagram.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/instagram.py
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ class InstagramTagIE(InstagramPlaylistBaseIE):
 
 
 class InstagramStoryIE(InstagramBaseIE):
-    _VALID_URL = r'https?://(?:www\.)?instagram\.com/stories/(?P<user>[^/]+)/(?P<id>\d+)'
+    _VALID_URL = r'https?://(?:www\.)?instagram\.com/stories/(?P<user>[^/?#]+)(?:/(?P<id>\d+))?'
     IE_NAME = 'instagram:story'
 
     _TESTS = [{
@@ -699,25 +699,38 @@ class InstagramStoryIE(InstagramBaseIE):
             'title': 'Rare',
         },
         'playlist_mincount': 50,
+    }, {
+        'url': 'https://www.instagram.com/stories/fruits_zipper/3570766765028588805/',
+        'only_matching': True,
+    }, {
+        'url': 'https://www.instagram.com/stories/fruits_zipper',
+        'only_matching': True,
     }]
 
     def _real_extract(self, url):
-        username, story_id = self._match_valid_url(url).groups()
-        story_info = self._download_webpage(url, story_id)
-        user_info = self._search_json(r'"user":', story_info, 'user info', story_id, fatal=False)
+        username, story_id = self._match_valid_url(url).group('user', 'id')
+        if username == 'highlights' and not story_id:  # story id is only mandatory for highlights
+            raise ExtractorError('Input URL is missing a highlight ID', expected=True)
+        display_id = story_id or username
+        story_info = self._download_webpage(url, display_id)
+        user_info = self._search_json(r'"user":', story_info, 'user info', display_id, fatal=False)
         if not user_info:
             self.raise_login_required('This content is unreachable')
 
         user_id = traverse_obj(user_info, 'pk', 'id', expected_type=str)
-        story_info_url = user_id if username != 'highlights' else f'highlight:{story_id}'
-        if not story_info_url:  # user id is only mandatory for non-highlights
-            raise ExtractorError('Unable to extract user id')
+        if username == 'highlights':
+            story_info_url = f'highlight:{story_id}'
+        else:
+            if not user_id:  # user id is only mandatory for non-highlights
+                raise ExtractorError('Unable to extract user id')
+            story_info_url = user_id
 
         videos = traverse_obj(self._download_json(
             f'{self._API_BASE_URL}/feed/reels_media/?reel_ids={story_info_url}',
-            story_id, errnote=False, fatal=False, headers=self._API_HEADERS), 'reels')
+            display_id, errnote=False, fatal=False, headers=self._API_HEADERS), 'reels')
         if not videos:
             self.raise_login_required('You need to log in to access this content')
+        user_info = traverse_obj(videos, (user_id, 'user', {dict})) or {}
 
         full_name = traverse_obj(videos, (f'highlight:{story_id}', 'user', 'full_name'), (user_id, 'user', 'full_name'))
         story_title = traverse_obj(videos, (f'highlight:{story_id}', 'title'))
@@ -727,6 +740,7 @@ class InstagramStoryIE(InstagramBaseIE):
         highlights = traverse_obj(videos, (f'highlight:{story_id}', 'items'), (user_id, 'items'))
         info_data = []
         for highlight in highlights:
+            highlight.setdefault('user', {}).update(user_info)
             highlight_data = self._extract_product(highlight)
             if highlight_data.get('formats'):
                 info_data.append({
@@ -734,4 +748,7 @@ class InstagramStoryIE(InstagramBaseIE):
                     'uploader_id': user_id,
                     **filter_dict(highlight_data),
                 })
+        if username != 'highlights' and story_id and not self._yes_playlist(username, story_id):
+            return traverse_obj(info_data, (lambda _, v: v['id'] == _pk_to_id(story_id), any))
+
         return self.playlist_result(info_data, playlist_id=story_id, playlist_title=story_title)