diff --git a/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/Provider.tsx b/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/Provider.tsx
index 4e2e31e7999..971a42007a8 100644
--- a/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/Provider.tsx
+++ b/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/Provider.tsx
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import type {ColorScheme, Router} from '@react-types/provider';
 import {colorScheme, UnsafeStyles} from './style-utils' with {type: 'macro'};
 import {createContext, JSX, ReactNode, useContext} from 'react';
+import {generateDefaultColorSchemeStyles} from './page.macro' with {type: 'macro'};
 import {I18nProvider, RouterProvider, useLocale} from 'react-aria-components';
 import {mergeStyles} from '../style/runtime';
 import {style} from '../style/spectrum-theme' with {type: 'macro'};
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ export const ColorSchemeContext = createContext<ColorScheme | 'light dark' | nul
 export function Provider(props: ProviderProps) {
   let result = <ProviderInner {...props} />;
   let parentColorScheme = useContext(ColorSchemeContext);
-  let colorScheme = props.colorScheme || parentColorScheme || 'light dark';
+  let colorScheme = props.colorScheme || parentColorScheme;
   if (colorScheme !== parentColorScheme) {
     result = <ColorSchemeContext.Provider value={colorScheme}>{result}</ColorSchemeContext.Provider>;
   }
@@ -68,6 +69,8 @@ export function Provider(props: ProviderProps) {
   return result;
 }
 
+generateDefaultColorSchemeStyles();
+
 let providerStyles = style({
   ...colorScheme(),
   '--s2-container-bg': {
@@ -80,7 +83,14 @@ let providerStyles = style({
       }
     }
   },
-  backgroundColor: '--s2-container-bg'
+  backgroundColor: {
+    // Don't set a background unless one is requested.
+    background: {
+      base: '--s2-container-bg',
+      'layer-1': '--s2-container-bg',
+      'layer-2': '--s2-container-bg'
+    }
+  }
 });
 
 function ProviderInner(props: ProviderProps) {
diff --git a/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/page.macro.ts b/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/page.macro.ts
index 7f26dbb4685..bc560db504e 100644
--- a/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/page.macro.ts
+++ b/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/page.macro.ts
@@ -49,3 +49,27 @@ export function generatePageStyles(this: MacroContext | void) {
     });
   }
 }
+
+// This generates a low specificity rule to define default values for 
+// --lightningcss-light and --lightningcss-dark. This is used when rendering
+// a <Provider> without setting a colorScheme prop, and when page.css is not present.
+// It is equivalent to setting `color-scheme: light dark`, but without overriding
+// the browser default for content outside the provider.
+export function generateDefaultColorSchemeStyles(this: MacroContext | void) {
+  if (this && typeof this.addAsset === 'function') {
+    this.addAsset({
+      type: 'css',
+      content: `@layer _.a {
+        :where(html) {
+          --lightningcss-light: initial;
+          --lightningcss-dark: ;
+
+          @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
+            --lightningcss-light: ;
+            --lightningcss-dark: initial;
+          }
+        }
+      }`
+    });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/style-utils.ts b/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/style-utils.ts
index 26ee2e8cf4c..8ba1995c2df 100644
--- a/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/style-utils.ts
+++ b/packages/@react-spectrum/s2/src/style-utils.ts
@@ -131,6 +131,8 @@ export const fieldInput = () => ({
 
 export const colorScheme = () => ({
   colorScheme: {
+    // Default to page color scheme if none is defined.
+    default: '[var(--lightningcss-light, light) var(--lightningcss-dark, dark)]',
     colorScheme: {
       'light dark': 'light dark',
       light: 'light',