diff --git a/config/config.example.yml b/config/config.example.yml
index 36d6a009d35..407b5b958ed 100644
--- a/config/config.example.yml
+++ b/config/config.example.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ ui:
   # Trust X-FORWARDED-* headers from proxies (default = true)
   useProxies: true
 
+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
+
 # The REST API server settings
 # NOTE: these settings define which (publicly available) REST API to use. They are usually
 # 'synced' with the 'dspace.server.url' setting in your backend's local.cfg.
diff --git a/server.ts b/server.ts
index 1731f9d10ec..d00529687de 100644
--- a/server.ts
+++ b/server.ts
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ export function app() {
   server.engine('html', (_, options, callback) =>
     ngExpressEngine({
       bootstrap,
+      inlineCriticalCss: environment.universal.inlineCriticalCss,
       providers: [
         {
           provide: REQUEST,
diff --git a/src/config/universal-config.interface.ts b/src/config/universal-config.interface.ts
index c088dcd6579..eb89264e37f 100644
--- a/src/config/universal-config.interface.ts
+++ b/src/config/universal-config.interface.ts
@@ -4,4 +4,13 @@ export interface UniversalConfig extends Config {
   preboot: boolean;
   async: boolean;
   time: boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * 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?: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/src/environments/environment.production.ts b/src/environments/environment.production.ts
index e9028b28285..8476da4fbe6 100644
--- a/src/environments/environment.production.ts
+++ b/src/environments/environment.production.ts
@@ -8,5 +8,6 @@ export const environment: Partial<BuildConfig> = {
     preboot: true,
     async: true,
     time: false,
+    inlineCriticalCss: true,
   },
 };
diff --git a/src/environments/environment.ts b/src/environments/environment.ts
index 4aa175ebe6b..2e70279635d 100644
--- a/src/environments/environment.ts
+++ b/src/environments/environment.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ export const environment: Partial<BuildConfig> = {
     preboot: false,
     async: true,
     time: false,
+    inlineCriticalCss: true,
   },
 };