diff --git a/public/app/core/components/SharedPreferences/SharedPreferences.test.tsx b/public/app/core/components/SharedPreferences/SharedPreferences.test.tsx
index 84346d2ed5238..e43f6109f6032 100644
--- a/public/app/core/components/SharedPreferences/SharedPreferences.test.tsx
+++ b/public/app/core/components/SharedPreferences/SharedPreferences.test.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { render, screen, waitFor, within } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { act, cleanup, render, screen, waitFor, within } from '@testing-library/react';
 import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
 import { comboboxTestSetup } from 'test/helpers/comboboxTestSetup';
 import { getSelectParent, selectOptionInTest } from 'test/helpers/selectOptionInTest';
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ import { Preferences as UserPreferencesDTO } from '@grafana/schema/src/raw/prefe
 
 import SharedPreferences from './SharedPreferences';
 
+// @PERCONA
+// Mock getAppEvents at the module level
+let mockGetAppEvents = jest.fn();
+jest.mock('@grafana/runtime', () => ({
+  ...jest.requireActual('@grafana/runtime'),
+  getAppEvents: () => mockGetAppEvents(),
+}));
+
 const selectComboboxOptionInTest = async (input: HTMLElement, optionOrOptions: string) => {
   await userEvent.click(input);
   const option = await screen.findByRole('option', { name: optionOrOptions });
@@ -206,4 +214,98 @@ describe('SharedPreferences', () => {
     await userEvent.click(screen.getByText('Save'));
     expect(mockReload).toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
+
+  // @PERCONA
+  describe('ThemeChangedEvent subscription', () => {
+    let mockEventBus: {
+      subscribe: jest.Mock;
+      unsubscribe: jest.Mock;
+    };
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      // Cleanup the render from the parent beforeEach
+      cleanup();
+
+      mockEventBus = {
+        subscribe: jest.fn(),
+        unsubscribe: jest.fn(),
+      };
+      mockGetAppEvents.mockReturnValue(mockEventBus);
+    });
+
+    it('subscribes to ThemeChangedEvent on mount', async () => {
+      render(<SharedPreferences {...props} />);
+      await waitFor(() => expect(mockPrefsLoad).toHaveBeenCalled());
+
+      expect(mockEventBus.subscribe).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.anything(), // ThemeChangedEvent
+        expect.any(Function)
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('updates theme state when ThemeChangedEvent is received with dark theme', async () => {
+      let eventHandler: ((evt: any) => void) | undefined;
+      mockEventBus.subscribe.mockImplementation((_event, handler) => {
+        eventHandler = handler;
+        return { unsubscribe: mockEventBus.unsubscribe };
+      });
+
+      render(<SharedPreferences {...props} />);
+      await waitFor(() => expect(mockPrefsLoad).toHaveBeenCalled());
+
+      // Wait for the form to be fully loaded and verify initial theme is light
+      const themeSelect = await screen.findByRole('combobox', { name: /Interface theme/i });
+      expect(themeSelect).toHaveValue('Light');
+
+      // Simulate ThemeChangedEvent with dark theme using proper GrafanaTheme2 structure
+      act(() => {
+        eventHandler?.({ payload: { colors: { mode: 'dark' } } });
+      });
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(themeSelect).toHaveValue('Dark');
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('updates theme state when ThemeChangedEvent is received with light theme', async () => {
+      // Reset mockPrefsLoad to return dark theme for this test
+      mockPrefsLoad.mockResolvedValueOnce({ ...mockPreferences, theme: 'dark' });
+
+      let eventHandler: ((evt: any) => void) | undefined;
+      mockEventBus.subscribe.mockImplementation((_event, handler) => {
+        eventHandler = handler;
+        return { unsubscribe: mockEventBus.unsubscribe };
+      });
+
+      render(<SharedPreferences {...props} />);
+      await waitFor(() => expect(mockPrefsLoad).toHaveBeenCalled());
+
+      // Wait for the form to be fully loaded and verify initial theme is dark
+      const themeSelect = await screen.findByRole('combobox', { name: /Interface theme/i });
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(themeSelect).toHaveValue('Dark');
+      });
+
+      // Simulate ThemeChangedEvent with light theme using proper GrafanaTheme2 structure
+      act(() => {
+        eventHandler?.({ payload: { colors: { mode: 'light' } } });
+      });
+
+      await waitFor(() => {
+        expect(themeSelect).toHaveValue('Light');
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('unsubscribes from ThemeChangedEvent on unmount', async () => {
+      const unsubscribeMock = jest.fn();
+      mockEventBus.subscribe.mockReturnValue({ unsubscribe: unsubscribeMock });
+
+      const { unmount } = render(<SharedPreferences {...props} />);
+      await waitFor(() => expect(mockPrefsLoad).toHaveBeenCalled());
+
+      unmount();
+
+      expect(unsubscribeMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/public/app/core/components/SharedPreferences/SharedPreferences.tsx b/public/app/core/components/SharedPreferences/SharedPreferences.tsx
index dcc1a250133f6..3a66c00bb96b7 100644
--- a/public/app/core/components/SharedPreferences/SharedPreferences.tsx
+++ b/public/app/core/components/SharedPreferences/SharedPreferences.tsx
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
 import { css } from '@emotion/css';
 import { PureComponent } from 'react';
 import * as React from 'react';
+import type { Unsubscribable } from 'rxjs';
 
-import { FeatureState, getBuiltInThemes, ThemeRegistryItem } from '@grafana/data';
+import {
+  FeatureState,
+  getBuiltInThemes,
+  ThemeRegistryItem,
+  type GrafanaTheme2,
+  type BusEventWithPayload,
+} from '@grafana/data';
 import { selectors } from '@grafana/e2e-selectors';
-import { config, reportInteraction } from '@grafana/runtime';
+import { config, reportInteraction, getAppEvents, ThemeChangedEvent } from '@grafana/runtime';
 import { Preferences as UserPreferencesDTO } from '@grafana/schema/src/raw/preferences/x/preferences_types.gen';
 import {
   Button,
@@ -26,6 +33,7 @@ import { t, Trans } from 'app/core/internationalization';
 import { LANGUAGES, PSEUDO_LOCALE } from 'app/core/internationalization/constants';
 import { PreferencesService } from 'app/core/services/PreferencesService';
 import { changeTheme } from 'app/core/services/theme';
+
 export interface Props {
   resourceUri: string;
   disabled?: boolean;
@@ -67,6 +75,8 @@ function getLanguageOptions(): ComboboxOption[] {
 export class SharedPreferences extends PureComponent<Props, State> {
   service: PreferencesService;
   themeOptions: ComboboxOption[];
+  // @PERCONA: Subscription to ThemeChangedEvent for syncing dropdown with theme changes
+  private themeChangedSub?: Unsubscribable;
 
   constructor(props: Props) {
     super(props);
@@ -121,6 +131,33 @@ export class SharedPreferences extends PureComponent<Props, State> {
       queryHistory: prefs.queryHistory,
       navbar: prefs.navbar,
     });
+
+    // @PERCONA: Subscribe to theme changes to keep the dropdown in sync with the actual theme.
+    // This ensures the dropdown reflects theme changes from any source (system preferences,
+    // other UI components, etc.), not just from this component's dropdown selection.
+    const eventBus = getAppEvents();
+    if (eventBus && typeof eventBus.subscribe === 'function') {
+      this.themeChangedSub = eventBus.subscribe(ThemeChangedEvent, (evt: BusEventWithPayload<GrafanaTheme2>) => {
+        try {
+          const newTheme = evt.payload;
+          const mode = newTheme.colors.mode;
+
+          if (this.state.theme !== mode) {
+            this.setState({ theme: mode });
+          }
+        } catch (err) {
+          console.warn('[SharedPreferences] Failed to sync theme from ThemeChangedEvent:', err);
+        }
+      });
+    }
+  }
+
+  componentWillUnmount() {
+    try {
+      this.themeChangedSub?.unsubscribe();
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.warn('[SharedPreferences] Failed to unsubscribe ThemeChangedEvent:', err);
+    }
   }
 
   onSubmitForm = async (event: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => {
@@ -136,6 +173,7 @@ export class SharedPreferences extends PureComponent<Props, State> {
 
   onThemeChanged = (value: ComboboxOption<string>) => {
     this.setState({ theme: value.value });
+
     reportInteraction('grafana_preferences_theme_changed', {
       toTheme: value.value,
       preferenceType: this.props.preferenceType,
diff --git a/public/app/core/services/theme.ts b/public/app/core/services/theme.ts
index 6368aa07f7697..b2796a42ec830 100644
--- a/public/app/core/services/theme.ts
+++ b/public/app/core/services/theme.ts
@@ -12,14 +12,18 @@ export async function changeTheme(themeId: string, runtimeOnly?: boolean) {
 
   const newTheme = getThemeById(themeId);
 
-  appEvents.publish(new ThemeChangedEvent(newTheme));
-
   // Add css file for new theme
   if (oldTheme.colors.mode !== newTheme.colors.mode) {
     const newCssLink = document.createElement('link');
     newCssLink.rel = 'stylesheet';
     newCssLink.href = config.bootData.assets[newTheme.colors.mode];
-    newCssLink.onload = () => {
+
+    // @PERCONA: Publish ThemeChangedEvent AFTER CSS loads to ensure UI components (like theme dropdown)
+    // update synchronously with the actual rendered theme. This prevents visual lag where
+    // the dropdown updates immediately but the page content updates later.
+    const publishThemeChange = () => {
+      appEvents.publish(new ThemeChangedEvent(newTheme));
+
       // Remove old css file
       const bodyLinks = document.getElementsByTagName('link');
       for (let i = 0; i < bodyLinks.length; i++) {
@@ -33,7 +37,16 @@ export async function changeTheme(themeId: string, runtimeOnly?: boolean) {
         }
       }
     };
+
+    newCssLink.onload = publishThemeChange;
+    // @PERCONA: Ensure event is published even if CSS fails to load (network error, ad blocker, etc.)
+    // to prevent UI from getting stuck in inconsistent state
+    newCssLink.onerror = publishThemeChange;
+
     document.head.insertBefore(newCssLink, document.head.firstChild);
+  } else {
+    // Same mode (e.g., light -> light with different variant), publish event immediately
+    appEvents.publish(new ThemeChangedEvent(newTheme));
   }
 
   if (runtimeOnly) {