diff --git a/src/app/index.client.tsx b/src/app/index.client.tsx
index 92feebdf..52bc900f 100644
--- a/src/app/index.client.tsx
+++ b/src/app/index.client.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client'
 import { RouterProvider, createBrowserRouter } from 'react-router-dom'
-import { routes } from './routes.js'
+import { routesObjects } from './routes.js'
 import { hydrateLazyRoutes } from './utils.js'
 
 hydrate()
 
 async function hydrate() {
-  await hydrateLazyRoutes(routes)
-  const router = createBrowserRouter(routes)
+  await hydrateLazyRoutes(routesObjects)
+  const router = createBrowserRouter(routesObjects)
   ReactDOM.hydrateRoot(document.getElementById('app')!, <RouterProvider router={router} />)
 }
diff --git a/src/app/index.server.tsx b/src/app/index.server.tsx
index a2a8c05e..ca085757 100644
--- a/src/app/index.server.tsx
+++ b/src/app/index.server.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import type { Request } from '@tinyhttp/app'
 import * as ReactDOMServer from 'react-dom/server'
 import { Helmet } from 'react-helmet'
-import { Route, Routes } from 'react-router-dom'
+import { Routes } from 'react-router-dom'
 import {
   type StaticHandlerContext,
   StaticRouter,
@@ -10,27 +10,13 @@ import {
   createStaticRouter,
 } from 'react-router-dom/server.js'
 
-import { routes } from './routes.js'
+import { routesElements, routesObjects } from './routes.js'
 import { createFetchRequest } from './utils.js'
 
 export async function prerender(location: string) {
-  const unwrappedRoutes = await Promise.all(
-    routes.map(async (route) => {
-      const lazyRoute = await route.lazy()
-      return {
-        path: route.path,
-        element: lazyRoute.element,
-      }
-    }),
-  )
-
   const body = ReactDOMServer.renderToString(
     <StaticRouter location={location}>
-      <Routes>
-        {unwrappedRoutes.map((route) => (
-          <Route key={route.path} path={route.path} element={route.element} />
-        ))}
-      </Routes>
+      <Routes>{routesElements}</Routes>
     </StaticRouter>,
   )
 
@@ -38,7 +24,7 @@ export async function prerender(location: string) {
 }
 
 export async function render(req: Request) {
-  const { query, dataRoutes } = createStaticHandler(routes)
+  const { query, dataRoutes } = createStaticHandler(routesObjects)
   const fetchRequest = createFetchRequest(req)
   const context = (await query(fetchRequest)) as StaticHandlerContext
 
@@ -55,16 +41,11 @@ export async function render(req: Request) {
 
 function head() {
   const helmet = Helmet.renderStatic()
-
-  const themeKey = 'vocs.theme'
-  const themeScript = `<script>(function(){"use strict";function n(){const e=typeof localStorage<"u"?localStorage.getItem("${themeKey}"):null,m=typeof window<"u"?window.matchMedia("(prefers-color-scheme: light)").matches?"light":"dark":null;return{storageTheme:e,systemTheme:m}}const o=window.matchMedia("(prefers-color-scheme: dark)"),{storageTheme:t,systemTheme:a}=n(),d=t||a||"dark";document.documentElement.classList.add(d),t||o.addEventListener("change",({matches:e})=>{document.documentElement.classList.add(e?"dark":"light");document.documentElement.classList.replace(e?"light":"dark",e?"dark":"light")})})();</script>`
-
   return `
     ${helmet.title.toString()}
     ${helmet.meta.toString()}
     ${helmet.link.toString()}
     ${helmet.style.toString()}
     ${helmet.script.toString()}
-    ${themeScript}
   `
 }
diff --git a/src/app/main.tsx b/src/app/main.tsx
deleted file mode 100644
index 019fd10f..00000000
--- a/src/app/main.tsx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-import { type ReactNode } from 'react'
-import { useApplyCssTransition } from './hooks/useApplyCssTransition.js'
-
-export function Main({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
-  useApplyCssTransition()
-  return (
-    <div className="vocs">
-      <article>{children}</article>
-    </div>
-  )
-}
diff --git a/src/app/root.tsx b/src/app/root.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8edc2f29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/root.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { type ReactNode } from 'react'
+import { useApplyCssTransition } from './hooks/useApplyCssTransition.js'
+
+export function Root({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
+  useApplyCssTransition()
+  return <div className="vocs">{children}</div>
+}
diff --git a/src/app/routes.tsx b/src/app/routes.tsx
index c027e9c0..a9e494d0 100644
--- a/src/app/routes.tsx
+++ b/src/app/routes.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 import type { MDXComponents } from 'mdx/types.js'
 import { Helmet } from 'react-helmet'
-import { type RouteObject } from 'react-router-dom'
+import { Outlet, Route, type RouteObject, createRoutesFromElements } from 'react-router-dom'
 import { routes as routes_virtual } from 'virtual:routes'
 
 import { A } from './components/A.js'
 import { CodeGroup } from './components/CodeGroup.js'
 import { FrontmatterHead } from './components/FrontmatterHead.js'
-import { Main } from './main.js'
+import { Root } from './root.js'
 
 const components: MDXComponents = {
   a: A,
@@ -16,21 +16,37 @@ const components: MDXComponents = {
   },
 }
 
-export const routes = routes_virtual.map((route_virtual) => ({
-  path: route_virtual.path,
-  lazy: async () => {
-    const { frontmatter, head, ...route } = await route_virtual.lazy()
-    return {
-      ...route,
-      element: (
-        <>
-          {head && <Helmet>{head}</Helmet>}
-          {frontmatter && <FrontmatterHead frontmatter={frontmatter} />}
-          <Main>
-            <route.default components={components} />
-          </Main>
-        </>
-      ),
-    } satisfies RouteObject
-  },
-}))
+export const routesElements = (
+  <Route
+    path="/"
+    element={
+      <Root>
+        <Outlet />
+      </Root>
+    }
+  >
+    {routes_virtual.map((route_virtual) => (
+      <Route
+        key={route_virtual.path}
+        path={route_virtual.path}
+        lazy={async () => {
+          const { frontmatter, head, ...route } = await route_virtual.lazy()
+          return {
+            ...route,
+            element: (
+              <>
+                {head && <Helmet>{head}</Helmet>}
+                {frontmatter && <FrontmatterHead frontmatter={frontmatter} />}
+                <article>
+                  <route.default components={components} />
+                </article>
+              </>
+            ),
+          } satisfies RouteObject
+        }}
+      />
+    ))}
+  </Route>
+)
+
+export const routesObjects = createRoutesFromElements(routesElements)
diff --git a/src/app/utils/initialize-theme.ts b/src/app/utils/initialize-theme.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f0ee2fbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/utils/initialize-theme.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+const darkModeMediaQuery = window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)')
+
+const storedTheme = localStorage.getItem('vocs.theme')
+const theme = storedTheme || 'dark'
+
+if (theme === 'dark') document.documentElement.classList.add('dark')
+
+if (!storedTheme)
+  // Update the theme if the user changes their OS preference
+  darkModeMediaQuery.addEventListener('change', ({ matches: isDark }) => {
+    if (isDark) document.documentElement.classList.add('dark')
+    else document.documentElement.classList.remove('dark')
+  })
diff --git a/src/build.ts b/src/build.ts
index a86802de..647240b5 100644
--- a/src/build.ts
+++ b/src/build.ts
@@ -30,4 +30,19 @@ export async function build({ outDir = 'dist', ssr = false }: BuildParameters =
     },
     root: __dirname,
   })
+
+  // initialize theme script
+  await vite.build({
+    build: {
+      lib: {
+        formats: ['iife'],
+        name: 'theme',
+        entry: [resolve(__dirname, './app/utils/initialize-theme.ts')],
+      },
+      minify: true,
+      outDir: resolve(outDir, ssr ? 'client' : ''),
+      emptyOutDir: false,
+    },
+    configFile: undefined,
+  })
 }
diff --git a/src/index.html b/src/index.html
index 5fbd50d8..4e0ed0b8 100644
--- a/src/index.html
+++ b/src/index.html
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   <head>
     <meta charset="UTF-8" />
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
+    <script src="/app/utils/initialize-theme.ts"></script>
     <link href="/styles/index.css" rel="stylesheet">
     <!--head-->
   </head>
diff --git a/src/prerender.ts b/src/prerender.ts
index 279882b9..7917b4c1 100644
--- a/src/prerender.ts
+++ b/src/prerender.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ export async function prerender(args: PrerenderParameters = {}) {
   // Prerender each route.
   for (const route of routes) {
     const { head, body } = await mod.prerender(route)
-    const html = template.replace('<!--body-->', body).replace('<!--head-->', head)
+    const html = template
+      .replace('<!--body-->', body)
+      .replace('<!--head-->', head)
+      .replace('/app/utils/initialize-theme.ts', '/initialize-theme.iife.js')
     const filePath = `${route.endsWith('/') ? `${route}index` : route}.html`.replace(/^\//, '')
     const path = resolve(outDir_resolved, filePath)
     const pathDir = dirname(path)