diff --git a/build-tools/tasks/styles.js b/build-tools/tasks/styles.js
index 50aa943278..d4c75812f4 100644
--- a/build-tools/tasks/styles.js
+++ b/build-tools/tasks/styles.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 const { parallel, series } = require('gulp');
-const { readFileSync } = require('fs');
+const { readFileSync, existsSync } = require('fs');
 const { createHash } = require('crypto');
 const { join } = require('path');
 const { buildThemedComponentsInternal } = require('@cloudscape-design/theming-build/internal');
@@ -36,6 +36,112 @@ function compileStyleDictionary() {
   });
 }
 
+/**
+ * Extracts dark mode CSS rules from the generated styles and creates a separate
+ * CSS file that applies dark mode styles based on prefers-color-scheme media query.
+ *
+ * This allows consumers to opt-in to automatic dark mode without bundling the
+ * duplicate styles by default.
+ */
+function generateDarkModePrefersCss(theme) {
+  return task(`dark-mode-prefers:${theme.name}`, () => {
+    const baseStylesPath = join(theme.outputPath, 'internal/base-component/styles.scoped.css');
+
+    if (!existsSync(baseStylesPath)) {
+      console.log(`  Base component styles not found at ${baseStylesPath}, skipping dark-mode-prefers CSS`);
+      return Promise.resolve();
+    }
+
+    const cssContent = readFileSync(baseStylesPath, 'utf-8');
+    const darkModeRules = extractDarkModeRules(cssContent);
+
+    if (darkModeRules.length === 0) {
+      console.log('  No dark mode rules found, skipping dark-mode-prefers CSS');
+      return Promise.resolve();
+    }
+
+    // Transform .awsui-dark-mode to .awsui-dark-mode-if-preferred
+    const transformedRules = darkModeRules.map(rule =>
+      rule.replace(/\.awsui-dark-mode/g, '.awsui-dark-mode-if-preferred')
+    );
+
+    const outputCss = `/* Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. */
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 */
+
+/*
+ * This file provides automatic dark mode support based on the user's system preference.
+ * Import this file and apply the .awsui-dark-mode-if-preferred class to enable automatic
+ * dark mode switching based on prefers-color-scheme.
+ *
+ * Usage:
+ *   import darkModeStyles from '@cloudscape-design/design-tokens/dark-mode-prefers.css';
+ *   <div className={darkModeStyles.awsuiDarkModeIfPreferred}>...</div>
+ *
+ * Or without CSS modules:
+ *   import '@cloudscape-design/design-tokens/dark-mode-prefers.css';
+ *   <div className="awsui-dark-mode-if-preferred">...</div>
+ */
+
+@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
+${transformedRules.join('\n\n')}
+}
+`;
+
+    const designTokensOutputDir = join(workspace.targetPath, theme.designTokensDir);
+    writeFile(join(designTokensOutputDir, 'dark-mode-prefers.css'), outputCss);
+    console.log(`  Generated dark-mode-prefers.css (${transformedRules.length} rules)`);
+
+    return Promise.resolve();
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Extracts all .awsui-dark-mode CSS rule blocks from the stylesheet content.
+ */
+function extractDarkModeRules(cssContent) {
+  const lines = cssContent.split('\n');
+  const darkModeRules = [];
+
+  let i = 0;
+  while (i < lines.length) {
+    const line = lines[i];
+
+    // Look for dark mode selectors (not inside @media blocks)
+    if (line.includes('.awsui-dark-mode') && line.includes('{') && !line.trim().startsWith('@media')) {
+      // Extract the full rule block
+      let braceCount = 0;
+      const ruleLines = [];
+      let j = i;
+
+      while (j < lines.length) {
+        const currentLine = lines[j];
+        ruleLines.push(currentLine);
+
+        for (const char of currentLine) {
+          if (char === '{') {
+            braceCount++;
+          }
+          if (char === '}') {
+            braceCount--;
+          }
+        }
+
+        if (braceCount === 0 && ruleLines.length > 0) {
+          break;
+        }
+        j++;
+      }
+
+      darkModeRules.push(ruleLines.join('\n'));
+      i = j + 1;
+    } else {
+      i++;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return darkModeRules;
+}
+
 function stylesTask(theme) {
   return task(`styles:${theme.name}`, async () => {
     const designTokensOutputDir = join(workspace.targetPath, theme.designTokensDir);
@@ -88,5 +194,5 @@ function stylesTask(theme) {
 module.exports = series(
   generateEnvironment(),
   compileStyleDictionary(),
-  parallel(themes.map(theme => stylesTask(theme)))
+  parallel(themes.map(theme => series(stylesTask(theme), generateDarkModePrefersCss(theme))))
 );
diff --git a/build-tools/utils/themes.js b/build-tools/utils/themes.js
index 5066477bbf..b60e2c6157 100644
--- a/build-tools/utils/themes.js
+++ b/build-tools/utils/themes.js
@@ -10,7 +10,15 @@ const themes = [
     packageJson: { name: '@cloudscape-design/components' },
     designTokensOutput: 'index',
     designTokensDir: 'design-tokens',
-    designTokensPackageJson: { name: '@cloudscape-design/design-tokens' },
+    designTokensPackageJson: {
+      name: '@cloudscape-design/design-tokens',
+      exports: {
+        '.': './index.js',
+        './index.js': './index.js',
+        './index.scss': './index.scss',
+        './dark-mode-prefers.css': './dark-mode-prefers.css',
+      },
+    },
     outputPath: path.join(workspace.targetPath, 'components'),
     primaryThemePath: './classic/index.js',
     secondaryThemePaths: ['./visual-refresh-secondary/index.js'],