diff --git a/packages/desktop/index.html b/packages/desktop/index.html
index 769ba619..500363fb 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/index.html
+++ b/packages/desktop/index.html
@@ -9,6 +9,25 @@
     <meta name="theme-color" content="#151313" />
     <link rel="preload" href="/ibm-plex-mono-latin-600-normal.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin />
     <title>OpenChamber Desktop</title>
+    <script>
+      // Blocking script to detect and apply theme before first paint
+      (function() {
+        var themeMode = localStorage.getItem('themeMode');
+        var isDark;
+        if (themeMode === 'dark') {
+          isDark = true;
+        } else if (themeMode === 'light') {
+          isDark = false;
+        } else {
+          // 'system' or not set - use system preference
+          isDark = window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches;
+        }
+        document.documentElement.classList.add(isDark ? 'dark' : 'light');
+        document.documentElement.style.setProperty('color-scheme', isDark ? 'dark' : 'light');
+        // Store for use in inline styles
+        window.__INITIAL_THEME_DARK__ = isDark;
+      })();
+    </script>
     <style>
       @font-face {
         font-family: 'IBM Plex Mono';
@@ -17,9 +36,13 @@
         src: url('/ibm-plex-mono-latin-600-normal.woff2') format('woff2');
         font-display: block;
       }
-      :root {
+      /* Theme-aware color scheme */
+      html.dark {
         color-scheme: dark;
       }
+      html.light {
+        color-scheme: light;
+      }
       html,
       body,
       #root {
@@ -30,7 +53,13 @@
         margin: 0;
         font-family: 'IBM Plex Mono', monospace;
         background-color: transparent;
-        color: #ffffff;
+      }
+      /* Theme-aware text colors for loading screen */
+      html.dark body {
+        color: #CECDC3; /* Flexoki dark foreground */
+      }
+      html.light body {
+        color: #100F0F; /* Flexoki light foreground */
       }
       .loading {
         display: flex;
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/packages/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index 1e3fa607..e014d45d 100644
--- a/packages/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/packages/desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -2847,7 +2847,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openchamber-desktop"
-version = "1.2.1"
+version = "1.2.2"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "axum",
diff --git a/packages/web/index.html b/packages/web/index.html
index f047e927..72126a65 100644
--- a/packages/web/index.html
+++ b/packages/web/index.html
@@ -60,20 +60,36 @@
     </script>
 
     <script>
+      // Blocking script to detect and apply theme before first paint
       (function() {
         try {
+          var themeMode = localStorage.getItem('themeMode');
           var variant = localStorage.getItem('selectedThemeVariant');
           var useSystem = localStorage.getItem('useSystemTheme');
-          if (!variant || (variant !== 'light' && variant !== 'dark')) {
-            if (useSystem === null || useSystem === 'true') {
-              variant = window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches ? 'dark' : 'light';
-            } else {
-              variant = 'dark';
-            }
+          var isDark;
+          
+          // Check themeMode first (new storage key)
+          if (themeMode === 'dark') {
+            isDark = true;
+          } else if (themeMode === 'light') {
+            isDark = false;
+          } else if (themeMode === 'system' || useSystem === null || useSystem === 'true') {
+            // System preference
+            isDark = window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches;
+          } else if (variant === 'light' || variant === 'dark') {
+            // Legacy storage key fallback
+            isDark = variant === 'dark';
+          } else {
+            // Default to system
+            isDark = window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches;
           }
-          document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-splash-variant', variant === 'light' ? 'light' : 'dark');
+          
+          // Apply theme class and data attribute
+          document.documentElement.classList.add(isDark ? 'dark' : 'light');
+          document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-splash-variant', isDark ? 'dark' : 'light');
+          document.documentElement.style.setProperty('color-scheme', isDark ? 'dark' : 'light');
         } catch (error) {
-          console.warn('Failed to apply splash variant:', error);
+          console.warn('Failed to apply theme:', error);
         }
       })();
     </script>