diff --git a/android/src/main/java/com/reactnativenavigation/NavigationActivity.java b/android/src/main/java/com/reactnativenavigation/NavigationActivity.java
index 0e5f70a8f9..4d6bdf4419 100644
--- a/android/src/main/java/com/reactnativenavigation/NavigationActivity.java
+++ b/android/src/main/java/com/reactnativenavigation/NavigationActivity.java
@@ -70,6 +70,16 @@ public void onPostCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
         ViewGroup contentLayout = findViewById(android.R.id.content);
         navigator.setContentLayout(contentLayout);
         SystemUiUtils.setupSystemBarBackgrounds(this, contentLayout);
+        applyThemeStatusBarColor();
+    }
+
+    private void applyThemeStatusBarColor() {
+        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.VANILLA_ICE_CREAM
+                && SystemUiUtils.needsManualStatusBarBackground()) {
+            //noinspection deprecation
+            getWindow().setStatusBarColor(android.graphics.Color.TRANSPARENT);
+            SystemUiUtils.setStatusBarColor(getWindow(), android.graphics.Color.TRANSPARENT);
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/android/src/main/java/com/reactnativenavigation/utils/SystemUiUtils.kt b/android/src/main/java/com/reactnativenavigation/utils/SystemUiUtils.kt
index 35c74cb8bd..7df9a31d3e 100644
--- a/android/src/main/java/com/reactnativenavigation/utils/SystemUiUtils.kt
+++ b/android/src/main/java/com/reactnativenavigation/utils/SystemUiUtils.kt
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ object SystemUiUtils {
     private const val THREE_BUTTON_NAV_BAR_OPACITY = 0.8f
 
     private var statusBarBackgroundView: View? = null
+    private var statusBarBackgroundActivity: java.lang.ref.WeakReference<Activity>? = null
     private var navBarBackgroundView: View? = null
     @JvmStatic
     var isEdgeToEdgeActive = false
@@ -69,11 +70,11 @@ object SystemUiUtils {
      * Initializes view-based system bar backgrounds for edge-to-edge.
      * Call from Activity.onPostCreate after the navigator content layout is set.
      *
-     * Status bar: reuses the system's android:id/statusBarBackground DecorView child.
+     * Status bar: reuses the system's android:id/statusBarBackground DecorView child
+     * when available. On API 35+ with EdgeToEdge, this view may not exist, so a
+     * manual view is created in the content layout, sized by status bar insets.
      * Navigation bar: creates a view in [contentLayout] sized by WindowInsets,
      * since the system's navigationBarBackground is not available with EdgeToEdge.
-     *
-     * Both fall back to deprecated window APIs when the views are unavailable.
      */
     @JvmStatic
     fun setupSystemBarBackgrounds(activity: Activity, contentLayout: ViewGroup) {
@@ -85,9 +86,35 @@ object SystemUiUtils {
         if (statusBarBackgroundView != null) return
         val sbView = activity.window.decorView.findViewById<View>(android.R.id.statusBarBackground)
         if (sbView != null) {
-            sbView.setBackgroundColor(Color.BLACK)
             statusBarBackgroundView = sbView
+        } else {
+            statusBarBackgroundActivity = java.lang.ref.WeakReference(activity)
+        }
+    }
+
+    private fun ensureStatusBarBackgroundView(): View? {
+        statusBarBackgroundView?.let { return it }
+        val activity = statusBarBackgroundActivity?.get() ?: return null
+        val contentLayout = activity.findViewById<ViewGroup>(android.R.id.content) ?: return null
+        val view = View(activity)
+        val params = FrameLayout.LayoutParams(
+            FrameLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, 0, Gravity.TOP
+        )
+        contentLayout.addView(view, params)
+        statusBarBackgroundView = view
+        statusBarBackgroundActivity = null
+
+        ViewCompat.setOnApplyWindowInsetsListener(view) { v, insets ->
+            val sbHeight = insets.getInsets(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.statusBars()).top
+            val lp = v.layoutParams
+            if (lp.height != sbHeight) {
+                lp.height = sbHeight
+                v.layoutParams = lp
+            }
+            insets
         }
+        view.requestApplyInsets()
+        return view
     }
 
     private fun setupNavigationBarBackground(contentLayout: ViewGroup) {
@@ -131,6 +158,14 @@ object SystemUiUtils {
         return Color.argb(alpha, Color.red(DEFAULT_NAV_BAR_COLOR), Color.green(DEFAULT_NAV_BAR_COLOR), Color.blue(DEFAULT_NAV_BAR_COLOR))
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns true when the system statusBarBackground view was not found during setup,
+     * meaning a manual view will be lazily created on the first setStatusBarColor call.
+     * Use this to decide whether to apply a theme-based initial status bar color.
+     */
+    @JvmStatic
+    fun needsManualStatusBarBackground(): Boolean = statusBarBackgroundActivity != null
+
     /**
      * Marks edge-to-edge as active. Call after EdgeToEdge.enable() in the activity.
      * This flag controls whether navigation bar insets are forwarded to SafeAreaView
@@ -148,6 +183,7 @@ object SystemUiUtils {
     @JvmStatic
     fun tearDown() {
         statusBarBackgroundView = null
+        statusBarBackgroundActivity = null
         navBarBackgroundView = null
         isEdgeToEdgeActive = false
         isThreeButtonNav = false
@@ -196,15 +232,26 @@ object SystemUiUtils {
             Color.green(color),
             Color.blue(color)
         )
-        setStatusBarColor(window, opaqueColor)
+        applyStatusBarColor(window, opaqueColor)
     }
 
     /**
-     * Sets the status bar background color.
-     * Uses the view-based background when available (edge-to-edge),
-     * falls back to the deprecated window API on older configurations.
+     * Sets the status bar background color, lazily creating a manual view on API 35+
+     * if the system view wasn't available at setup time. Use this for explicit app-level
+     * color requests (e.g. from MainActivity or NavigationActivity).
      */
+    @JvmStatic
     fun setStatusBarColor(window: Window?, color: Int) {
+        val view = ensureStatusBarBackgroundView()
+        if (view != null) {
+            view.setBackgroundColor(color)
+        } else {
+            @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
+            window?.statusBarColor = color
+        }
+    }
+
+    private fun applyStatusBarColor(window: Window?, color: Int) {
         statusBarBackgroundView?.setBackgroundColor(color) ?: run {
             @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
             window?.statusBarColor = color