diff --git a/src/resources/formats/html/giscus/giscus.ejs b/src/resources/formats/html/giscus/giscus.ejs
index 723fbeb6f7d..d80da2f2fcb 100644
--- a/src/resources/formats/html/giscus/giscus.ejs
+++ b/src/resources/formats/html/giscus/giscus.ejs
@@ -1,53 +1,17 @@
-<input type="hidden" id="giscus-base-theme" value="<%- giscus.baseTheme %>">
-<input type="hidden" id="giscus-alt-theme" value="<%- giscus.altTheme %>">
-<script>
-function loadGiscusWhenReady() {
-  // Function to get the theme based on body class
-  const getTheme = () => {
-    const baseTheme = document.getElementById('giscus-base-theme').value;
-    const altTheme = document.getElementById('giscus-alt-theme').value;
-    return document.body.classList.contains('quarto-dark') ? altTheme : baseTheme;
-  };
-
-  // Create the Giscus script and add it to the desired location
-  const loadGiscus = () => {
-    const script = document.createElement("script");
-    script.src = "https://giscus.app/client.js";
-    script.async = true;
-    script.dataset.repo = "<%- giscus.repo %>";
-    script.dataset.repoId = "<%- giscus['repo-id'] %>";
-    script.dataset.category = "<%- giscus.category %>";
-    script.dataset.categoryId = "<%- giscus['category-id'] %>";
-    script.dataset.mapping = "<%- giscus.mapping %>";
-    script.dataset.reactionsEnabled = "<%- giscus['reactions-enabled'] ? 1 : 0 %>";
-    script.dataset.emitMetadata = "0";
-    script.dataset.inputPosition = "<%- giscus['input-position'] %>";
-    script.dataset.theme = getTheme();
-    script.dataset.lang = "<%- giscus.language %>";
-    script.crossOrigin = "anonymous";
-
-    // Append the script to the desired div instead of at the end of the body
-    document.getElementById("quarto-content").appendChild(script);
-  };
-
-  // MutationObserver to detect when the 'quarto-light' or 'quarto-dark' class is added to the body
-  const observer = new MutationObserver((mutations) => {
-    for (const mutation of mutations) {
-      if (mutation.type === "attributes" && mutation.attributeName === "class") {
-        if (document.body.classList.contains('quarto-light') || document.body.classList.contains('quarto-dark')) {
-          loadGiscus();
-          observer.disconnect(); // Stop observing once Giscus is loaded
-          break;
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  });
-
-  // Start observing the body for class attribute changes
-  observer.observe(document.body, {
-    attributes: true,
-    attributeFilter: ["class"],
-  });
-}
-loadGiscusWhenReady();
+<script src="https://giscus.app/client.js"
+        data-repo="<%- giscus.repo %>"
+        data-repo-id="<%- giscus['repo-id'] %>"
+        data-category="<%- giscus.category %>"
+        data-category-id="<%- giscus['category-id'] %>"
+        data-mapping="<%- giscus.mapping %>"
+        data-reactions-enabled="<%- giscus['reactions-enabled'] ? 1 : 0 %>"
+        data-emit-metadata="0"
+        data-input-position="<%- giscus['input-position'] %>"
+        data-theme="<%- giscus.theme %>"
+        data-lang="<%- giscus.language %>"
+        crossorigin="anonymous"
+        <%- giscus.loading ? `data-loading=${giscus.loading}` : '' %>
+        async>
 </script>
+<input type="hidden" id="giscus-base-theme" value="<%- giscus.baseTheme %>">
+<input type="hidden" id="giscus-alt-theme" value="<%- giscus.altTheme %>">
\ No newline at end of file