diff --git a/packages/flutter/lib/src/cupertino/app.dart b/packages/flutter/lib/src/cupertino/app.dart
index b663160d2f..0b7ce65d21 100644
--- a/packages/flutter/lib/src/cupertino/app.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter/lib/src/cupertino/app.dart
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 library;
 
 import 'package:flutter/gestures.dart';
+import 'package:flutter/services.dart';
 import 'package:flutter/widgets.dart';
 
 import 'button.dart';
@@ -652,6 +653,14 @@ class _CupertinoAppState extends State<CupertinoApp> {
     final CupertinoThemeData effectiveThemeData = (widget.theme ?? const CupertinoThemeData())
         .resolveFrom(context);
 
+    // Prefer theme brightness if set, otherwise check system brightness.
+    final Brightness brightness =
+        effectiveThemeData.brightness ?? MediaQuery.platformBrightnessOf(context);
+
+    SystemChrome.setSystemUIOverlayStyle(
+      brightness == Brightness.dark ? SystemUiOverlayStyle.light : SystemUiOverlayStyle.dark,
+    );
+
     return ScrollConfiguration(
       behavior: widget.scrollBehavior ?? const CupertinoScrollBehavior(),
       child: CupertinoUserInterfaceLevel(
diff --git a/packages/flutter/lib/src/material/app.dart b/packages/flutter/lib/src/material/app.dart
index 80faf6e2ec..9e3cc9d054 100644
--- a/packages/flutter/lib/src/material/app.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter/lib/src/material/app.dart
@@ -1009,6 +1009,10 @@ class _MaterialAppState extends State<MaterialApp> {
       theme = widget.highContrastTheme;
     }
     theme ??= widget.theme ?? ThemeData.light();
+    SystemChrome.setSystemUIOverlayStyle(
+      theme.brightness == Brightness.dark ? SystemUiOverlayStyle.light : SystemUiOverlayStyle.dark,
+    );
+
     return theme;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/flutter/lib/src/services/system_chrome.dart b/packages/flutter/lib/src/services/system_chrome.dart
index 128e27e7fb..bc3c4050fa 100644
--- a/packages/flutter/lib/src/services/system_chrome.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter/lib/src/services/system_chrome.dart
@@ -18,6 +18,13 @@ export 'dart:ui' show Brightness, Color;
 
 export 'binding.dart' show SystemUiChangeCallback;
 
+// Examples can assume:
+// import 'dart:ui' as ui;
+// import 'package:flutter/services.dart';
+// import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
+// import 'package:flutter/widgets.dart';
+// late BuildContext context;
+
 /// Specifies a particular device orientation.
 ///
 /// To determine which values correspond to which orientations, first position
@@ -644,6 +651,20 @@ abstract final class SystemChrome {
   /// ** See code in examples/api/lib/services/system_chrome/system_chrome.set_system_u_i_overlay_style.1.dart **
   /// {@end-tool}
   ///
+  /// To imperatively set the style of the system overlays, use [SystemChrome.setSystemUIOverlayStyle].
+  ///
+  /// {@tool snippet}
+  /// The following example uses SystemChrome to set the status bar icon brightness based on system brightness.
+  /// ```dart
+  ///   final Brightness brightness = MediaQuery.platformBrightnessOf(context);
+  ///   SystemChrome.setSystemUIOverlayStyle(
+  ///     SystemUiOverlayStyle(
+  ///       statusBarIconBrightness: brightness == Brightness.dark ? Brightness.light : Brightness.dark,
+  ///       ),
+  ///     );
+  /// ```
+  /// {@end-tool}
+  ///
   /// See also:
   ///
   ///  * [AppBar.systemOverlayStyle], a convenient property for declaratively setting
diff --git a/packages/flutter/test/cupertino/app_test.dart b/packages/flutter/test/cupertino/app_test.dart
index 6e99392591..b308e77a57 100644
--- a/packages/flutter/test/cupertino/app_test.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter/test/cupertino/app_test.dart
@@ -481,6 +481,72 @@ void main() {
     },
   );
 
+  testWidgets('CupertinoApp uses the dark SystemUIOverlayStyle when the background is light', (
+    WidgetTester tester,
+  ) async {
+    await tester.pumpWidget(
+      const CupertinoApp(
+        theme: CupertinoThemeData(brightness: Brightness.light),
+        home: CupertinoPageScaffold(child: Text('Hello')),
+      ),
+    );
+
+    expect(SystemChrome.latestStyle, SystemUiOverlayStyle.dark);
+  });
+
+  testWidgets('CupertinoApp uses the light SystemUIOverlayStyle when the background is dark', (
+    WidgetTester tester,
+  ) async {
+    await tester.pumpWidget(
+      const CupertinoApp(
+        theme: CupertinoThemeData(brightness: Brightness.dark),
+        home: CupertinoPageScaffold(child: Text('Hello')),
+      ),
+    );
+
+    expect(SystemChrome.latestStyle, SystemUiOverlayStyle.light);
+  });
+
+  testWidgets(
+    'CupertinoApp uses the dark SystemUIOverlayStyle when theme brightness is null and the system is in light mode',
+    (WidgetTester tester) async {
+      // The theme brightness is null by default.
+      // The system is in light mode by default.
+      await tester.pumpWidget(
+        MediaQuery(
+          data: const MediaQueryData(),
+          child: CupertinoApp(
+            builder: (BuildContext context, Widget? child) {
+              return const Placeholder();
+            },
+          ),
+        ),
+      );
+
+      expect(SystemChrome.latestStyle, SystemUiOverlayStyle.dark);
+    },
+  );
+
+  testWidgets(
+    'CupertinoApp uses the light SystemUIOverlayStyle when theme brightness is null and the system is in dark mode',
+    (WidgetTester tester) async {
+      // The theme brightness is null by default.
+      // Simulates setting the system to dark mode.
+      await tester.pumpWidget(
+        MediaQuery(
+          data: const MediaQueryData(platformBrightness: Brightness.dark),
+          child: CupertinoApp(
+            builder: (BuildContext context, Widget? child) {
+              return const Placeholder();
+            },
+          ),
+        ),
+      );
+
+      expect(SystemChrome.latestStyle, SystemUiOverlayStyle.light);
+    },
+  );
+
   testWidgets('Text color is correctly resolved when CupertinoThemeData.brightness is null', (
     WidgetTester tester,
   ) async {
diff --git a/packages/flutter/test/material/material_test.dart b/packages/flutter/test/material/material_test.dart
index 0dcc91d7c5..9c9dfa3ebf 100644
--- a/packages/flutter/test/material/material_test.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter/test/material/material_test.dart
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ library;
 
 import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
 import 'package:flutter/rendering.dart';
+import 'package:flutter/services.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
 import 'package:leak_tracker_flutter_testing/leak_tracker_flutter_testing.dart';
 import '../widgets/multi_view_testing.dart';
@@ -284,6 +285,30 @@ void main() {
     expect(pressed, isTrue);
   });
 
+  testWidgets('Material uses the dark SystemUIOverlayStyle when the background is light', (
+    WidgetTester tester,
+  ) async {
+    final ThemeData lightTheme = ThemeData();
+    await tester.pumpWidget(
+      MaterialApp(theme: lightTheme, home: const Scaffold(body: Center(child: Text('test')))),
+    );
+
+    expect(lightTheme.colorScheme.brightness, Brightness.light);
+    expect(SystemChrome.latestStyle, SystemUiOverlayStyle.dark);
+  });
+
+  testWidgets('Material uses the light SystemUIOverlayStyle when the background is dark', (
+    WidgetTester tester,
+  ) async {
+    final ThemeData darkTheme = ThemeData.dark();
+    await tester.pumpWidget(
+      MaterialApp(theme: darkTheme, home: const Scaffold(body: Center(child: Text('test')))),
+    );
+
+    expect(darkTheme.colorScheme.brightness, Brightness.dark);
+    expect(SystemChrome.latestStyle, SystemUiOverlayStyle.light);
+  });
+
   group('Surface Tint Overlay', () {
     testWidgets(
       'applyElevationOverlayColor does not effect anything with useMaterial3 set to true',