diff --git a/src/inkscape.cpp b/src/inkscape.cpp
index 38513d37abbbc82dc8bfc481e690fccd44fcaf99..d1ce1a1db6a533c6cc8b414636520959fb2195f8 100644
--- a/src/inkscape.cpp
+++ b/src/inkscape.cpp
@@ -378,14 +378,10 @@ void Application::add_gtk_css()
     gchar *gtkThemeName = nullptr;
     gchar *gtkIconThemeName = nullptr;
     Glib::ustring themeiconname;
-    gboolean gtkApplicationPreferDarkTheme;
     GtkSettings *settings = gtk_settings_get_default();
     if (settings) {
         g_object_get(settings, "gtk-icon-theme-name", &gtkIconThemeName, NULL);
         g_object_get(settings, "gtk-theme-name", &gtkThemeName, NULL);
-        g_object_get(settings, "gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme", &gtkApplicationPreferDarkTheme, NULL);
-        g_object_set(settings, "gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme",
-                     prefs->getBool("/theme/preferDarkTheme", gtkApplicationPreferDarkTheme), NULL);
         prefs->setString("/theme/defaultTheme", Glib::ustring(gtkThemeName));
         prefs->setString("/theme/defaultIconTheme", Glib::ustring(gtkIconThemeName));
         Glib::ustring gtkthemename = prefs->getString("/theme/gtkTheme");
diff --git a/src/ui/dialog/inkscape-preferences.cpp b/src/ui/dialog/inkscape-preferences.cpp
index ea3ed60510684387add85949bf85cd90d2b05e3a..921f8bef42cab5b8d11a898b5b53636d4a590b5f 100644
--- a/src/ui/dialog/inkscape-preferences.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/dialog/inkscape-preferences.cpp
@@ -776,18 +776,16 @@ void InkscapePreferences::themeChange()
     Gtk::Window *window = SP_ACTIVE_DESKTOP->getToplevel();
     if (window) {
         Inkscape::Preferences *prefs = Inkscape::Preferences::get();
-        bool darktheme = prefs->getBool("/theme/preferDarkTheme", false);
         Glib::ustring themename = prefs->getString("/theme/gtkTheme");
         Glib::ustring themeiconname = prefs->getString("/theme/iconTheme");
         GtkSettings *settings = gtk_settings_get_default();
         g_object_set(settings, "gtk-theme-name", themename.c_str(), NULL);
-        g_object_set(settings, "gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme", darktheme, NULL);
-        bool dark = darktheme || themename.find(":dark") != -1;
+        bool dark = themename.find(":dark") != -1;
         if (!dark) {
             Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::StyleContext> stylecontext = window->get_style_context();
             Gdk::RGBA rgba;
             bool background_set = stylecontext->lookup_color("theme_bg_color", rgba);
-            if (background_set && rgba.get_red() + rgba.get_green() + rgba.get_blue() < 1.0) {
+            if (background_set && (0.299 * rgba.get_red() + 0.587 * rgba.get_green() + 0.114 * rgba.get_blue()) < 0.5) {
                 dark = true;
             }
         }
@@ -1121,9 +1119,6 @@ void InkscapePreferences::initPageUI()
     }
     _sys_user_themes_dir_copy.init(g_build_filename(g_get_user_data_dir(), "themes", NULL), _("Open themes folder"));
     _page_theme.add_line(true, _("User themes:"), _sys_user_themes_dir_copy, "", _("Location of the user’s themes"), true, Gtk::manage(new Gtk::Box()));
-    _dark_theme.init(_("Use dark theme"), "/theme/preferDarkTheme", false);
-    _page_theme.add_line(true, "", _dark_theme, "", _("Use dark theme"), true);
-    _dark_theme.signal_clicked().connect(sigc::mem_fun(*this, &InkscapePreferences::themeChange));
     // Icons
     _page_theme.add_group_header(_("Icons"));
     {
diff --git a/src/ui/dialog/inkscape-preferences.h b/src/ui/dialog/inkscape-preferences.h
index 301d884657a497bfb81dce9ec4a3535cbde1173e..eca71bb43c010c07b02fef9ea24640a3cfad3dcb 100644
--- a/src/ui/dialog/inkscape-preferences.h
+++ b/src/ui/dialog/inkscape-preferences.h
@@ -239,7 +239,6 @@ protected:
     UI::Widget::PrefOpenFolder _sys_user_themes_dir_copy;
     UI::Widget::PrefOpenFolder _sys_user_icons_dir_copy;
     UI::Widget::PrefCombo _icon_theme;
-    UI::Widget::PrefCheckButton _dark_theme;
     UI::Widget::PrefCheckButton _symbolic_icons;
     UI::Widget::PrefCheckButton _symbolic_base_colors;
     UI::Widget::PrefColorPicker _symbolic_base_color;
diff --git a/src/widgets/desktop-widget.cpp b/src/widgets/desktop-widget.cpp
index 51fb1d94b001cb99d7bac0e04cd1c6e2ae56538c..f85b722be152e8227578ee929cfd8b3860daab9b 100644
--- a/src/widgets/desktop-widget.cpp
+++ b/src/widgets/desktop-widget.cpp
@@ -843,18 +843,16 @@ void SPDesktopWidget::on_realize()
 
     dtw->updateNamedview();
     gchar *gtkThemeName;
-    gboolean gtkApplicationPreferDarkTheme;
     GtkSettings *settings = gtk_settings_get_default();
     Gtk::Container *window = get_toplevel();
     if (settings && window) {
         g_object_get(settings, "gtk-theme-name", &gtkThemeName, NULL);
-        g_object_get(settings, "gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme", &gtkApplicationPreferDarkTheme, NULL);
-        bool dark = gtkApplicationPreferDarkTheme || Glib::ustring(gtkThemeName).find(":dark") != -1;
+        bool dark = Glib::ustring(gtkThemeName).find(":dark") != std::string::npos;
         if (!dark) {
             Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::StyleContext> stylecontext = window->get_style_context();
             Gdk::RGBA rgba;
             bool background_set = stylecontext->lookup_color("theme_bg_color", rgba);
-            if (background_set && rgba.get_red() + rgba.get_green() + rgba.get_blue() < 1.0) {
+            if (background_set && (0.299 * rgba.get_red() + 0.587 * rgba.get_green() + 0.114 * rgba.get_blue()) < 0.5) {
                 dark = true;
             }
         }