diff --git a/packages/app-legacy/src/index.tsx b/packages/app-legacy/src/index.tsx
index 05dcc024bf..d7699e3d9d 100644
--- a/packages/app-legacy/src/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/app-legacy/src/index.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import '@backstage/theme/MuiClassNameSetup';
 import '@backstage/cli/asset-types';
 import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
 import App from './App';
diff --git a/packages/app/src/index.tsx b/packages/app/src/index.tsx
index fd86261385..873670de0f 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/index.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import '@backstage/theme/MuiClassNameSetup';
 import '@backstage/cli/asset-types';
 import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
 import app from './App';
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/src/index.tsx b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/src/index.tsx
index 46f31902f4..3cc56c886c 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/src/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/default-app/packages/app/src/index.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import '@backstage/theme/MuiClassNameSetup';
 import '@backstage/cli/asset-types';
 import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
 import App from './App';
diff --git a/packages/create-app/templates/next-app/packages/app/src/index.tsx b/packages/create-app/templates/next-app/packages/app/src/index.tsx
index ac9e52bdc1..6936ff50bc 100644
--- a/packages/create-app/templates/next-app/packages/app/src/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/create-app/templates/next-app/packages/app/src/index.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import '@backstage/theme/MuiClassNameSetup';
 import '@backstage/cli/asset-types';
 import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
 import App from './App';
diff --git a/packages/theme/package.json b/packages/theme/package.json
index e95ae20b36..f27fc9e385 100644
--- a/packages/theme/package.json
+++ b/packages/theme/package.json
@@ -20,7 +20,14 @@
     "directory": "packages/theme"
   },
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
-  "sideEffects": false,
+  "sideEffects": [
+    "./src/unified/MuiClassNameSetup.ts"
+  ],
+  "exports": {
+    ".": "./src/index.ts",
+    "./MuiClassNameSetup": "./src/unified/MuiClassNameSetup.ts",
+    "./package.json": "./package.json"
+  },
   "main": "src/index.ts",
   "types": "src/index.ts",
   "files": [
diff --git a/packages/theme/src/unified/MuiClassNameSetup.ts b/packages/theme/src/unified/MuiClassNameSetup.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1c1b854211
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/theme/src/unified/MuiClassNameSetup.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2026 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.
+ */
+import { unstable_ClassNameGenerator as ClassNameGenerator } from '@mui/material/className';
+
+/**
+ * This API is introduced in @mui/material (v5.0.5) as a replacement of deprecated createGenerateClassName & only affects v5 Material UI components from `@mui/*`.
+ *
+ * This needs to be configured before any MUI 5 component can possibly be imported. See: https://v5.mui.com/material-ui/experimental-api/classname-generator/#caveat
+ *
+ * ```packages/app/index.ts
+ *
+ * import '@backstage/theme/MuiClassNameSetup'; // must be the very first import!
+ * import '@backstage/cli/asset-types';
+ * import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
+ * import app from './App';
+ * import '@backstage/ui/css/styles.css';
+ *
+ * ReactDOM.createRoot(document.getElementById('root')!).render(app);
+ * ```
+ */
+ClassNameGenerator.configure(componentName => {
+  return componentName.startsWith('v5-')
+    ? componentName
+    : `v5-${componentName}`;
+});
+
+export {};
diff --git a/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedThemeProvider.tsx b/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedThemeProvider.tsx
index 69d843ed3e..b93746dad4 100644
--- a/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedThemeProvider.tsx
+++ b/packages/theme/src/unified/UnifiedThemeProvider.tsx
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import {
   Theme as Mui5Theme,
 } from '@mui/material/styles';
 import { UnifiedTheme } from './types';
-import { unstable_ClassNameGenerator as ClassNameGenerator } from '@mui/material/className';
+import './MuiClassNameSetup';
 
 /**
  * Props for {@link UnifiedThemeProvider}.
@@ -41,15 +41,6 @@ export interface UnifiedThemeProviderProps {
   themeName?: string;
 }
 
-/**
- * This API is introduced in @mui/material (v5.0.5) as a replacement of deprecated createGenerateClassName & only affects v5 Material UI components from `@mui/*`.
- *
- * This call needs to be in the same module as the `UnifiedThemeProvider` to ensure that it doesn't get removed by tree shaking
- */
-ClassNameGenerator.configure(componentName => {
-  return `v5-${componentName}`;
-});
-
 // Background at https://mui.com/x/migration/migration-data-grid-v4/#using-mui-core-v4-with-v5
 // Rather than disabling globals and custom seed, we instead only set a production prefix that
 // won't collide with Material UI 5 styles. We've already got the separate class name generator
diff --git a/packages/theme/src/unified/index.ts b/packages/theme/src/unified/index.ts
index 747662e195..2428902981 100644
--- a/packages/theme/src/unified/index.ts
+++ b/packages/theme/src/unified/index.ts
@@ -21,3 +21,4 @@ export { themes } from './themes';
 export { UnifiedThemeProvider } from './UnifiedThemeProvider';
 export type { UnifiedThemeProviderProps } from './UnifiedThemeProvider';
 export type { UnifiedTheme, SupportedThemes, SupportedVersions } from './types';
+export * from './MuiClassNameSetup';