diff --git a/scss/_variables.scss b/scss/_variables.scss
index 5429c017e965..2d70310a516d 100644
--- a/scss/_variables.scss
+++ b/scss/_variables.scss
@@ -1745,3 +1745,5 @@ $kbd-bg:                            var(--#{$prefix}body-color) !default;
 $nested-kbd-font-weight:            null !default; // Deprecated in v5.2.0, removing in v6
 
 $pre-color:                         null !default;
+
+@import "variables-dark"; // TODO: can be removed safely in v6, only here to avoid breaking changes in v5.3
diff --git a/scss/tests/mixins/_auto-import-of-variables-dark.test.scss b/scss/tests/mixins/_auto-import-of-variables-dark.test.scss
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f08ae5875271
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scss/tests/mixins/_auto-import-of-variables-dark.test.scss
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// TODO: this file can be removed safely in v6 when `@import "variables-dark"` will be removed at the end of _variables.scss
+
+@import "../../functions";
+@import "../../variables";
+// Voluntarily not importing _variables-dark.scss
+@import "../../maps";
+@import "../../mixins";