diff --git a/apps/login/next.config.mjs b/apps/login/next.config.mjs
index a1533d03b..5bdeea755 100755
--- a/apps/login/next.config.mjs
+++ b/apps/login/next.config.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import createNextIntlPlugin from "next-intl/plugin";
-import { DEFAULT_CSP } from "./constants/csp.js";
 
 const withNextIntl = createNextIntlPlugin();
 
@@ -20,10 +19,6 @@ const secureHeaders = [
     key: "X-XSS-Protection",
     value: "1; mode=block",
   },
-  {
-    key: "Content-Security-Policy",
-    value: DEFAULT_CSP,
-  },
   { key: "X-Frame-Options", value: "deny" },
 ];
 
diff --git a/apps/login/src/components/branding-context.tsx b/apps/login/src/components/branding-context.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..898a9aa30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/login/src/components/branding-context.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+"use client";
+
+import { useSyncExternalStore } from "react";
+
+/**
+ * Module-level store for themeMode from branding settings.
+ * This is used instead of React Context because ThemeSwitch in the layout
+ * is a sibling of (not a descendant of) the ThemeWrapper/DynamicTheme tree.
+ */
+let currentThemeMode = 0; // Default to UNSPECIFIED
+const listeners = new Set<() => void>();
+
+function notifyListeners() {
+  listeners.forEach((listener) => listener());
+}
+
+export function setThemeMode(mode: number) {
+  if (currentThemeMode !== mode) {
+    currentThemeMode = mode;
+    notifyListeners();
+  }
+}
+
+function subscribe(listener: () => void) {
+  listeners.add(listener);
+  return () => {
+    listeners.delete(listener);
+  };
+}
+
+function getSnapshot() {
+  return currentThemeMode;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Hook to subscribe to themeMode changes using React 18+ useSyncExternalStore.
+ * Ensures ThemeSwitch always sees a consistent snapshot during concurrent renders.
+ */
+export function useThemeMode(): number {
+  return useSyncExternalStore(subscribe, getSnapshot, getSnapshot);
+}
diff --git a/apps/login/src/components/theme-switch.tsx b/apps/login/src/components/theme-switch.tsx
index c75e964ae..dd9e9e110 100644
--- a/apps/login/src/components/theme-switch.tsx
+++ b/apps/login/src/components/theme-switch.tsx
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 "use client";
 
 import { APPEARANCE_STYLES, getComponentRoundness, getThemeConfig } from "@/lib/theme";
-import { MoonIcon, SunIcon } from "@heroicons/react/24/outline";
+import { ComputerDesktopIcon, MoonIcon, SunIcon } from "@heroicons/react/24/outline";
+import { ThemeMode } from "@zitadel/proto/zitadel/settings/v2/branding_settings_pb";
 import { useTheme } from "next-themes";
 import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
-
+import { useThemeMode } from "./branding-context";
 function getThemeToggleRoundness() {
   return getComponentRoundness("themeSwitch");
 }
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ function getSelectedButtonStyle(isSelected: boolean): string {
 export default function ThemeSwitch() {
   const [mounted, setMounted] = useState(false);
   const { theme, setTheme } = useTheme();
+  const themeMode = useThemeMode();
   const toggleRoundness = getThemeToggleRoundness();
   const cardAppearance = getThemeSwitchCardAppearance();
 
@@ -48,6 +50,12 @@ export default function ThemeSwitch() {
 
   if (!mounted) return null;
 
+  // Hide toggle when theme is forced to light or dark only
+  if (themeMode === ThemeMode.LIGHT || themeMode === ThemeMode.DARK) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  // themeMode is AUTO (1) or UNSPECIFIED (0): show light, system, dark options
   return (
     <div className={`flex space-x-1 p-1 ${toggleRoundness} ${cardAppearance}`}>
       <button
@@ -57,6 +65,13 @@ export default function ThemeSwitch() {
       >
         <SunIcon className="h-5 w-5" />
       </button>
+      <button
+        className={`flex h-8 w-8 flex-row items-center justify-center ${toggleRoundness} transition-colors ${getSelectedButtonStyle(theme === "system")}`}
+        onClick={() => setTheme("system")}
+        aria-label="Switch to system mode"
+      >
+        <ComputerDesktopIcon className="h-4 w-4" />
+      </button>
       <button
         className={`flex h-8 w-8 flex-row items-center justify-center ${toggleRoundness} transition-colors ${getSelectedButtonStyle(theme === "dark")}`}
         onClick={() => setTheme("dark")}
diff --git a/apps/login/src/components/theme-wrapper.tsx b/apps/login/src/components/theme-wrapper.tsx
index 98df9e5f7..9d6327aba 100644
--- a/apps/login/src/components/theme-wrapper.tsx
+++ b/apps/login/src/components/theme-wrapper.tsx
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 "use client";
 
 import { setTheme } from "@/helpers/colors";
-import { BrandingSettings } from "@zitadel/proto/zitadel/settings/v2/branding_settings_pb";
+import { BrandingSettings, ThemeMode } from "@zitadel/proto/zitadel/settings/v2/branding_settings_pb";
 import { useTheme } from "next-themes";
-import { ReactNode, useEffect } from "react";
+import { ReactNode, useEffect, useLayoutEffect } from "react";
+import { setThemeMode } from "./branding-context";
 
 type Props = {
   branding: BrandingSettings | undefined;
@@ -17,23 +18,37 @@ export const ThemeWrapper = ({ children, branding }: Props) => {
     setTheme(document, branding);
   }, [branding]);
 
-  // Handle branding themeMode to force specific theme
+  // Publish themeMode to the module-level store so ThemeSwitch can read it
   useEffect(() => {
+    setThemeMode(branding?.themeMode ?? ThemeMode.UNSPECIFIED);
+  }, [branding?.themeMode]);
+
+  // Handle branding themeMode to force specific theme.
+  // Uses useLayoutEffect to apply before paint and writes the forced value
+  // to localStorage so next-themes doesn't fall back to system default.
+  useLayoutEffect(() => {
     if (branding?.themeMode !== undefined) {
-      // Based on the proto definition:
-      // THEME_MODE_UNSPECIFIED = 0
-      // THEME_MODE_AUTO = 1
-      // THEME_MODE_LIGHT = 2
-      // THEME_MODE_DARK = 3
       switch (branding.themeMode) {
-        case 2: // THEME_MODE_LIGHT
+        case ThemeMode.LIGHT:
+          document.documentElement.classList.remove("dark");
+          try {
+            localStorage.setItem("cp-theme", "light");
+          } catch {
+            /* localStorage unavailable (e.g. private mode) */
+          }
           setNextTheme("light");
           break;
-        case 3: // THEME_MODE_DARK
+        case ThemeMode.DARK:
+          document.documentElement.classList.add("dark");
+          try {
+            localStorage.setItem("cp-theme", "dark");
+          } catch {
+            /* localStorage unavailable (e.g. private mode) */
+          }
           setNextTheme("dark");
           break;
-        case 1: // THEME_MODE_AUTO
-        case 0: // THEME_MODE_UNSPECIFIED
+        case ThemeMode.AUTO:
+        case ThemeMode.UNSPECIFIED:
         default:
           setNextTheme("system");
           break;
diff --git a/apps/login/src/proxy.ts b/apps/login/src/proxy.ts
index b713b13b6..4e4ab3215 100644
--- a/apps/login/src/proxy.ts
+++ b/apps/login/src/proxy.ts
@@ -39,48 +39,72 @@ export async function proxy(request: NextRequest) {
     requestHeaders.set("x-zitadel-i18n-organization", organization);
   }
 
-  // Only run the rest of the logic for the original matcher paths
-  const proxyPaths = ["/.well-known/", "/oauth/", "/oidc/", "/idps/callback/", "/saml/"];
-
-  const isMatched = proxyPaths.some((prefix) => request.nextUrl.pathname.startsWith(prefix));
-
-  // Only proxy in self-hosted mode
-  if (!isMatched) {
-    // For multi-tenant or non-proxied routes, just add the header and continue
-    return NextResponse.next({
-      request: { headers: requestHeaders },
-    });
-  }
-
-  const _headers = await headers();
-  const { serviceConfig } = getServiceConfig(_headers);
-
-  // add additional headers if available
-  if (serviceConfig.publicHost) {
-    requestHeaders.set("x-zitadel-public-host", serviceConfig.publicHost);
-  }
-  if (serviceConfig.instanceHost) {
-    requestHeaders.set("x-zitadel-instance-host", serviceConfig.instanceHost);
+  // Internal infrastructure routes — skip middleware entirely.
+  // /security is the internal API this middleware fetches (loop prevention).
+  // /healthy and /ready are Kubernetes/Docker health probes that must respond
+  // without depending on a ZITADEL backend.
+  const skipPaths = ["/security", "/healthy", "/ready"];
+  if (skipPaths.includes(request.nextUrl.pathname)) {
+    return NextResponse.next({ request: { headers: requestHeaders } });
   }
 
+  // Build security response headers (shared by all routes).
+  // Wrapped in try/catch so the middleware gracefully degrades with a default
+  // CSP when the ZITADEL backend is unavailable (e.g. during container startup).
   const responseHeaders = new Headers();
-  responseHeaders.set("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
-  responseHeaders.set("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "*");
+  let publicHost: string | undefined;
+  let instanceHost: string | undefined;
+  let baseUrl: string | undefined;
 
-  const securitySettings = await loadSecuritySettings(request);
+  try {
+    const _headers = await headers();
+    const { serviceConfig } = getServiceConfig(_headers);
+    publicHost = serviceConfig.publicHost;
+    instanceHost = serviceConfig.instanceHost;
+    baseUrl = serviceConfig.baseUrl;
 
-  const iframeOrigins =
-    securitySettings?.embeddedIframe?.enabled && securitySettings.embeddedIframe.allowedOrigins.length > 0
-      ? securitySettings.embeddedIframe.allowedOrigins
-      : undefined;
+    const securitySettings = await loadSecuritySettings(request);
+    const iframeOrigins =
+      securitySettings?.embeddedIframe?.enabled && securitySettings.embeddedIframe.allowedOrigins.length > 0
+        ? securitySettings.embeddedIframe.allowedOrigins
+        : undefined;
 
-  responseHeaders.set("Content-Security-Policy", buildCSP({ serviceUrl: serviceConfig.baseUrl, iframeOrigins }));
+    responseHeaders.set("Content-Security-Policy", buildCSP({ serviceUrl: baseUrl, iframeOrigins }));
 
-  if (!iframeOrigins) {
+    if (!iframeOrigins) {
+      responseHeaders.set("X-Frame-Options", "deny");
+    }
+  } catch (err) {
+    logger.error("Failed to load security settings for CSP, using default CSP", {
+      error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
+    });
+    responseHeaders.set("Content-Security-Policy", buildCSP());
     responseHeaders.set("X-Frame-Options", "deny");
   }
 
-  request.nextUrl.href = `${serviceConfig.baseUrl}${request.nextUrl.pathname}${request.nextUrl.search}`;
+  // Only run the rest of the logic for the original matcher paths
+  const proxyPaths = ["/.well-known/", "/oauth/", "/oidc/", "/idps/callback/", "/saml/"];
+  const isMatched = proxyPaths.some((prefix) => request.nextUrl.pathname.startsWith(prefix));
+
+  if (!isMatched) {
+    return NextResponse.next({
+      request: { headers: requestHeaders },
+      headers: responseHeaders,
+    });
+  }
+
+  // Proxy-specific headers
+  if (publicHost) {
+    requestHeaders.set("x-zitadel-public-host", publicHost);
+  }
+  if (instanceHost) {
+    requestHeaders.set("x-zitadel-instance-host", instanceHost);
+  }
+
+  responseHeaders.set("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
+  responseHeaders.set("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "*");
+
+  request.nextUrl.href = `${baseUrl}${request.nextUrl.pathname}${request.nextUrl.search}`;
 
   return NextResponse.rewrite(request.nextUrl, {
     request: {