diff --git a/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedTheme.tsx b/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedTheme.tsx
index bb31d88016..28da80424b 100644
--- a/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedTheme.tsx
+++ b/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedTheme.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { createTheme as createV4Theme } from '@material-ui/core/styles';
 import type {
   Theme as Mui4Theme,
   ThemeOptions as ThemeOptionsV4,
@@ -32,6 +31,7 @@ import { PageTheme } from '../base/types';
 import { defaultComponentThemes } from '../v5';
 import { createBaseThemeOptions } from '../base/createBaseThemeOptions';
 import { UnifiedTheme } from './types';
+import { maybeLoadMui4Styles } from '../v4/load';
 
 export class UnifiedThemeHolder implements UnifiedTheme {
   #themes = new Map<string, unknown>();
@@ -74,9 +74,14 @@ export function createUnifiedTheme(options: UnifiedThemeOptions): UnifiedTheme {
   const themeOptions = createBaseThemeOptions(options);
   const components = { ...defaultComponentThemes, ...options.components };
   const v5Theme = createV5Theme({ ...themeOptions, components });
-  const v4Overrides = transformV5ComponentThemesToV4(v5Theme, components);
-  const v4Theme = { ...createV4Theme(themeOptions), ...v4Overrides };
 
+  const mui4Styles = maybeLoadMui4Styles();
+  if (!mui4Styles) {
+    return new UnifiedThemeHolder(undefined, v5Theme);
+  }
+
+  const v4Overrides = transformV5ComponentThemesToV4(v5Theme, components);
+  const v4Theme = { ...mui4Styles.createTheme(themeOptions), ...v4Overrides };
   return new UnifiedThemeHolder(v4Theme, v5Theme);
 }
 
@@ -89,8 +94,13 @@ export function createUnifiedTheme(options: UnifiedThemeOptions): UnifiedTheme {
 export function createUnifiedThemeFromV4(
   options: ThemeOptionsV4,
 ): UnifiedTheme {
-  const v4Theme = createV4Theme(options);
   const v5Theme = adaptV4Theme(options as any);
 
+  const mui4Styles = maybeLoadMui4Styles();
+  if (!mui4Styles) {
+    return new UnifiedThemeHolder(undefined, v5Theme);
+  }
+
+  const v4Theme = mui4Styles.createTheme(options);
   return new UnifiedThemeHolder(v4Theme, v5Theme);
 }
diff --git a/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedThemeProvider.tsx b/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedThemeProvider.tsx
index 60f28bc353..d28dfab292 100644
--- a/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedThemeProvider.tsx
+++ b/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedThemeProvider.tsx
@@ -15,10 +15,6 @@
  */
 
 import React, { ReactNode } from 'react';
-import {
-  StylesProvider as Mui4StylesProvider,
-  ThemeProvider as Mui4Provider,
-} from '@material-ui/core/styles';
 import type { Theme as Mui4Theme } from '@material-ui/core/styles';
 import {
   StyledEngineProvider,
@@ -29,9 +25,9 @@ import {
   StylesProvider as Mui5StylesProvider,
   createGenerateClassName,
 } from '@mui/styles';
-import Mui4CssBaseline from '@material-ui/core/CssBaseline';
 import Mui5CssBaseline from '@mui/material/CssBaseline';
 import { UnifiedTheme } from './types';
+import { maybeLoadMui4CssBaseline, maybeLoadMui4Styles } from '../v4/load';
 
 const generateV4ClassName = createGenerateClassName({
   seed: 'm4',
@@ -69,7 +65,11 @@ export function UnifiedThemeProvider(
     if (v5Theme) {
       cssBaseline = <Mui5CssBaseline enableColorScheme />;
     } else if (v4Theme) {
-      cssBaseline = <Mui4CssBaseline />;
+      const CssBaseline = maybeLoadMui4CssBaseline();
+      if (!CssBaseline) {
+        throw new Error('Failed to load MUI 4 CssBaseline component');
+      }
+      cssBaseline = <CssBaseline />;
     }
   }
 
@@ -81,10 +81,15 @@ export function UnifiedThemeProvider(
   );
 
   if (v4Theme) {
+    const styles = maybeLoadMui4Styles();
+    if (!styles) {
+      throw new Error('Failed to load MUI 4 styles package');
+    }
+    const { StylesProvider, ThemeProvider } = styles;
     result = (
-      <Mui4StylesProvider generateClassName={generateV4ClassName} injectFirst>
-        <Mui4Provider theme={v4Theme as Mui4Theme}>{result}</Mui4Provider>
-      </Mui4StylesProvider>
+      <StylesProvider generateClassName={generateV4ClassName} injectFirst>
+        <ThemeProvider theme={v4Theme as Mui4Theme}>{result}</ThemeProvider>
+      </StylesProvider>
     );
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/theme/src/v4/load.ts b/packages/theme/src/v4/load.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..899aa8af93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/theme/src/v4/load.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2023 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Loads MUI v4 styles if it is available.
+ *
+ * This should always be used to access MUI v4 at runtime in this
+ * package, to ensure that it's not brought into the bundle unnecessarily.
+ *
+ * @internal
+ */
+export function maybeLoadMui4Styles():
+  | typeof import('@material-ui/core/styles')
+  | undefined {
+  if (
+    __webpack_modules__[
+      require.resolveWeak('@material-ui/core/styles') as number
+    ]
+  ) {
+    return __webpack_modules__[
+      require.resolveWeak('@material-ui/core/styles') as number
+    ] as typeof import('@material-ui/core/styles');
+  }
+  if (__webpack_modules__[require.resolveWeak('@material-ui/core') as number]) {
+    return __webpack_modules__[
+      require.resolveWeak('@material-ui/core') as number
+    ] as typeof import('@material-ui/core');
+  }
+
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Loads the MUI v4 CssBaseline component if it is available.
+ *
+ * This should always be used to access MUI v4 at runtime in this
+ * package, to ensure that it's not brought into the bundle unnecessarily.
+ *
+ * @internal
+ */
+export function maybeLoadMui4CssBaseline():
+  | typeof import('@material-ui/core/CssBaseline')['default']
+  | undefined {
+  if (
+    __webpack_modules__[
+      require.resolveWeak('@material-ui/core/CssBaseline') as number
+    ]
+  ) {
+    const m = __webpack_modules__[
+      require.resolveWeak('@material-ui/core/CssBaseline') as number
+    ] as typeof import('@material-ui/core/CssBaseline');
+    return m.default;
+  }
+  if (__webpack_modules__[require.resolveWeak('@material-ui/core') as number]) {
+    const m = __webpack_modules__[
+      require.resolveWeak('@material-ui/core') as number
+    ] as typeof import('@material-ui/core');
+    return m.CssBaseline;
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}