diff --git a/config/config.example.yml b/config/config.example.yml
index 1ce83f2f72..8c2ab38980 100644
--- a/config/config.example.yml
+++ b/config/config.example.yml
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ universal:
   # Whether to inline "critical" styles into the server-side rendered HTML.
   # Determining which styles are critical is a relatively expensive operation;
   # this option can be disabled to boost server performance at the expense of
-  # loading smoothness.
-  inlineCriticalCss: true
+  # loading smoothness. For improved SSR performance, DSpace defaults this to false (disabled).
+  inlineCriticalCss: false
 
 # The REST API server settings
 # NOTE: these settings define which (publicly available) REST API to use. They are usually
diff --git a/src/environments/environment.production.ts b/src/environments/environment.production.ts
index 7dd9bd2aa3..931dd422e3 100644
--- a/src/environments/environment.production.ts
+++ b/src/environments/environment.production.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,6 @@ export const environment: Partial<BuildConfig> = {
     preboot: true,
     async: true,
     time: false,
-    inlineCriticalCss: true,
+    inlineCriticalCss: false,
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/environments/environment.test.ts b/src/environments/environment.test.ts
index cb9d2c7130..1fb8d1d43b 100644
--- a/src/environments/environment.test.ts
+++ b/src/environments/environment.test.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ export const environment: BuildConfig = {
   universal: {
     preboot: true,
     async: true,
-    time: false
+    time: false,
+    inlineCriticalCss: false,
   },
 
   // Angular Universal server settings.
diff --git a/src/environments/environment.ts b/src/environments/environment.ts
index 10f71618e1..7c09793790 100644
--- a/src/environments/environment.ts
+++ b/src/environments/environment.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export const environment: Partial<BuildConfig> = {
     preboot: false,
     async: true,
     time: false,
-    inlineCriticalCss: true,
+    inlineCriticalCss: false,
   }
 };