diff --git a/src/material/_index.scss b/src/material/_index.scss
index ee2748149dcb..e35f98f435a2 100644
--- a/src/material/_index.scss
+++ b/src/material/_index.scss
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 @forward './core/theming/theming' show define-light-theme, define-dark-theme,
   define-palette, get-contrast-color-from-palette, get-color-from-palette,
   get-color-config, get-typography-config, get-density-config,
-  $theme-ignore-duplication-warnings;
+  $theme-ignore-duplication-warnings, $theme-legacy-inspection-api-compatibility;
 @forward './core/theming/theming' as private-* show private-clamp-density;
 @forward './core/theming/palette' show $red-palette, $pink-palette, $indigo-palette,
   $purple-palette, $deep-purple-palette, $blue-palette, $light-blue-palette, $cyan-palette,
diff --git a/src/material/core/theming/_m2-inspection.scss b/src/material/core/theming/_m2-inspection.scss
index 39b1fe981d09..779ae0fdcbdf 100644
--- a/src/material/core/theming/_m2-inspection.scss
+++ b/src/material/core/theming/_m2-inspection.scss
@@ -5,10 +5,17 @@
 
 $_typography-properties: (font, font-family, line-height, font-size, letter-spacing, font-weight);
 
+/// Gets the m2-config from the theme.
+@function _get-m2-config($theme) {
+  $internal: map.get($theme, _mat-theming-internals-do-not-access, m2-config);
+  @return $internal or $theme;
+}
+
 /// Gets the type of theme represented by a theme object (light or dark).
 /// @param {Map} $theme The theme
 /// @return {String} The type of theme (either `light` or `dark`).
 @function get-theme-type($theme) {
+  $theme: _get-m2-config($theme);
   @if not theme-has($theme, color) {
     @error 'Color information is not available on this theme.';
   }
@@ -26,6 +33,7 @@ $_typography-properties: (font, font-family, line-height, font-size, letter-spac
 ///   interpreted as a palette name).
 /// @return {Color} The requested theme color.
 @function get-theme-color($theme, $palette-name, $args...) {
+  $theme: _get-m2-config($theme);
   @if not theme-has($theme, color) {
     @error 'Color information is not available on this theme.';
   }
@@ -44,6 +52,7 @@ $_typography-properties: (font, font-family, line-height, font-size, letter-spac
 ///   (font, font-family, font-size, font-weight, line-height, or letter-spacing).
 /// @return {*} The value of the requested font property.
 @function get-theme-typography($theme, $typescale, $property) {
+  $theme: _get-m2-config($theme);
   @if not theme-has($theme, typography) {
     @error 'Typography information is not available on this theme.';
   }
@@ -79,6 +88,7 @@ $_typography-properties: (font, font-family, line-height, font-size, letter-spac
 /// @param {Map} $theme The theme
 /// @return {Number} The density scale.
 @function get-theme-density($theme) {
+  $theme: _get-m2-config($theme);
   @if not theme-has($theme, density) {
     @error 'Density information is not available on this theme.';
   }
@@ -86,7 +96,12 @@ $_typography-properties: (font, font-family, line-height, font-size, letter-spac
   @return theming.clamp-density($scale, -5);
 }
 
+/// Checks whether the theme has information about given theming system.
+/// @param {Map} $theme The theme
+/// @param {String} $system The system to check
+/// @param {Boolean} Whether the theme has information about the system.
 @function theme-has($theme, $system) {
+  $theme: _get-m2-config($theme);
   $theme: theming.private-legacy-get-theme($theme);
   @if $system == base {
     @return true;
diff --git a/src/material/core/theming/_theming.scss b/src/material/core/theming/_theming.scss
index 1861c746478b..bdfbc89027ee 100644
--- a/src/material/core/theming/_theming.scss
+++ b/src/material/core/theming/_theming.scss
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 @use 'palette';
 @use '../density/private/compatibility';
 
+$theme-legacy-inspection-api-compatibility: true !default;
+
 // Whether duplication warnings should be disabled. Warnings enabled by default.
 $theme-ignore-duplication-warnings: false !default;
 
@@ -544,7 +546,14 @@ $_internals: _mat-theming-internals-do-not-access;
     @return $theme;
   }
   $color: map.get($theme, color);
-  @return map.merge($theme, $color);
+  $m2-config: map.merge($theme, $color);
+  $theme: (
+    _mat-theming-internals-do-not-access: (
+      theme-version: 0,
+      m2-config: $m2-config,
+    )
+  );
+  @return map.merge(if($theme-legacy-inspection-api-compatibility, $m2-config, ()), $theme);
 }
 
 // Gets the theme from the given value that is either already a theme, or a color configuration.
diff --git a/src/material/core/theming/tests/theming-inspection-api.spec.ts b/src/material/core/theming/tests/theming-inspection-api.spec.ts
index 501587d9f277..793ec098580b 100644
--- a/src/material/core/theming/tests/theming-inspection-api.spec.ts
+++ b/src/material/core/theming/tests/theming-inspection-api.spec.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ const mdcSassImporter = {
 function transpile(content: string) {
   return compileString(
     `
+        @use 'sass:map';
         @use '../../../index' as mat;
         @use '../../../../material-experimental/index' as matx;
 
@@ -131,76 +132,112 @@ describe('theming inspection api', () => {
     it('should get density scale', () => {
       expect(
         transpile(`
-        $theme: mat.define-light-theme((
-          density: -1
-        ));
-        div {
-          --density-scale: #{mat.private-get-theme-density($theme)};
-        }
-      `),
+          $theme: mat.define-light-theme((
+            density: -1
+          ));
+          div {
+            --density-scale: #{mat.private-get-theme-density($theme)};
+          }
+        `),
       ).toMatch('--density-scale: -1;');
     });
 
     it('should check what information the theme has', () => {
       const css = transpile(`
-      $theme: mat.define-light-theme((
-        color: (
-          primary: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
-          accent: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
-        ),
-        typography: mat.define-typography-config(),
-        density: -1,
-      ));
-      $color-only: mat.define-light-theme((
-        color: (
-          primary: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
-          accent: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
-        ),
-        typography: null,
-        density: null,
-      ));
-      $typography-only: mat.define-light-theme((
-        color: null,
-        typography: mat.define-typography-config(),
-        density: null,
-      ));
-      $density-only: mat.define-light-theme((
-        color: null,
-        typography: null,
-        density: -1,
-      ));
-      div {
-        --base: #{(
-          mat.private-theme-has($theme, base),
-          mat.private-theme-has($color-only, base),
-          mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, base),
-          mat.private-theme-has($density-only, base),
-        )};
-        --color: #{(
-          mat.private-theme-has($theme, color),
-          mat.private-theme-has($color-only, color),
-          mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, color),
-          mat.private-theme-has($density-only, color),
-        )};
-        --typography: #{(
-          mat.private-theme-has($theme, typography),
-          mat.private-theme-has($color-only, typography),
-          mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, typography),
-          mat.private-theme-has($density-only, typography),
-        )};
-        --density: #{(
-          mat.private-theme-has($theme, density),
-          mat.private-theme-has($color-only, density),
-          mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, density),
-          mat.private-theme-has($density-only, density),
-        )};
-      }
-    `);
+        $theme: mat.define-light-theme((
+          color: (
+            primary: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
+            accent: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
+          ),
+          typography: mat.define-typography-config(),
+          density: -1,
+        ));
+        $color-only: mat.define-light-theme((
+          color: (
+            primary: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
+            accent: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
+          ),
+          typography: null,
+          density: null,
+        ));
+        $typography-only: mat.define-light-theme((
+          color: null,
+          typography: mat.define-typography-config(),
+          density: null,
+        ));
+        $density-only: mat.define-light-theme((
+          color: null,
+          typography: null,
+          density: -1,
+        ));
+        div {
+          --base: #{(
+            mat.private-theme-has($theme, base),
+            mat.private-theme-has($color-only, base),
+            mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, base),
+            mat.private-theme-has($density-only, base),
+          )};
+          --color: #{(
+            mat.private-theme-has($theme, color),
+            mat.private-theme-has($color-only, color),
+            mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, color),
+            mat.private-theme-has($density-only, color),
+          )};
+          --typography: #{(
+            mat.private-theme-has($theme, typography),
+            mat.private-theme-has($color-only, typography),
+            mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, typography),
+            mat.private-theme-has($density-only, typography),
+          )};
+          --density: #{(
+            mat.private-theme-has($theme, density),
+            mat.private-theme-has($color-only, density),
+            mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, density),
+            mat.private-theme-has($density-only, density),
+          )};
+        }
+      `);
       expect(css).toMatch(/--base: true, true, true, true;/);
       expect(css).toMatch(/--color: true, true, false, false;/);
       expect(css).toMatch(/--typography: true, false, true, false;/);
       expect(css).toMatch(/--density: true, false, false, true;/);
     });
+
+    it('should work with compatibility disabled', () => {
+      expect(
+        transpile(`
+          mat.$theme-legacy-inspection-api-compatibility: false;
+          $theme: mat.define-dark-theme((
+            color: (
+              primary: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
+              accent: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
+            )
+          ));
+          div {
+            --theme-type: #{mat.private-get-theme-type($theme)};
+          }
+        `),
+      ).toMatch('--theme-type: dark;');
+    });
+
+    it('should not allow access via legacy APIs with compatibility disabled', () => {
+      expect(() =>
+        transpile(`
+          mat.$theme-legacy-inspection-api-compatibility: false;
+          $theme: mat.define-dark-theme((
+            color: (
+              primary: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
+              accent: mat.define-palette(mat.$red-palette),
+            )
+          ));
+          $color-config: mat.get-color-config($theme);
+          $primary: map.get($color-config, primary);
+          div {
+            color: #{mat.get-color-from-palette($primary)};
+          }
+        `),
+      ).toThrow();
+    });
   });
 
   describe('for m3 theme', () => {
@@ -311,121 +348,121 @@ describe('theming inspection api', () => {
       expect(css).toMatch('line-height: 2.5rem;');
       expect(css).toMatch('letter-spacing: 0rem;');
     });
-  });
 
-  it('should error on invalid typescale', () => {
-    expect(() =>
-      transpile(`
-        $theme: matx.define-theme();
-        div {
-          font: mat.private-get-theme-typography($theme, subtitle-large);
-        }
-      `),
-    ).toThrowError(/Valid typescales are:.*Got: subtitle-large/);
-  });
+    it('should error on invalid typescale', () => {
+      expect(() =>
+        transpile(`
+          $theme: matx.define-theme();
+          div {
+            font: mat.private-get-theme-typography($theme, subtitle-large);
+          }
+        `),
+      ).toThrowError(/Valid typescales are:.*Got: subtitle-large/);
+    });
 
-  it('should error on invalid typography property', () => {
-    expect(() =>
-      transpile(`
-        $theme: matx.define-theme();
-        div {
-          text-transform: mat.private-get-theme-typography($theme, body-small, text-transform);
-        }
-      `),
-    ).toThrowError(/Valid typography properties are:.*Got: text-transform/);
-  });
+    it('should error on invalid typography property', () => {
+      expect(() =>
+        transpile(`
+          $theme: matx.define-theme();
+          div {
+            text-transform: mat.private-get-theme-typography($theme, body-small, text-transform);
+          }
+        `),
+      ).toThrowError(/Valid typography properties are:.*Got: text-transform/);
+    });
+
+    it('should get density scale', () => {
+      expect(
+        transpile(`
+          $theme: matx.define-theme();
+          div {
+            --density-scale: #{mat.private-get-theme-density($theme)};
+          }
+        `),
+      ).toMatch('--density-scale: 0;');
+    });
 
-  it('should get density scale', () => {
-    expect(
-      transpile(`
+    it('should check what information the theme has', () => {
+      const css = transpile(`
         $theme: matx.define-theme();
+        $color-only: matx.define-colors();
+        $typography-only: matx.define-typography();
+        $density-only: matx.define-density();
         div {
-          --density-scale: #{mat.private-get-theme-density($theme)};
+          --base: #{(
+            mat.private-theme-has($theme, base),
+            mat.private-theme-has($color-only, base),
+            mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, base),
+            mat.private-theme-has($density-only, base),
+          )};
+          --color: #{(
+            mat.private-theme-has($theme, color),
+            mat.private-theme-has($color-only, color),
+            mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, color),
+            mat.private-theme-has($density-only, color),
+          )};
+          --typography: #{(
+            mat.private-theme-has($theme, typography),
+            mat.private-theme-has($color-only, typography),
+            mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, typography),
+            mat.private-theme-has($density-only, typography),
+          )};
+          --density: #{(
+            mat.private-theme-has($theme, density),
+            mat.private-theme-has($color-only, density),
+            mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, density),
+            mat.private-theme-has($density-only, density),
+          )};
         }
-      `),
-    ).toMatch('--density-scale: 0;');
-  });
-
-  it('should check what information the theme has', () => {
-    const css = transpile(`
-      $theme: matx.define-theme();
-      $color-only: matx.define-colors();
-      $typography-only: matx.define-typography();
-      $density-only: matx.define-density();
-      div {
-        --base: #{(
-          mat.private-theme-has($theme, base),
-          mat.private-theme-has($color-only, base),
-          mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, base),
-          mat.private-theme-has($density-only, base),
-        )};
-        --color: #{(
-          mat.private-theme-has($theme, color),
-          mat.private-theme-has($color-only, color),
-          mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, color),
-          mat.private-theme-has($density-only, color),
-        )};
-        --typography: #{(
-          mat.private-theme-has($theme, typography),
-          mat.private-theme-has($color-only, typography),
-          mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, typography),
-          mat.private-theme-has($density-only, typography),
-        )};
-        --density: #{(
-          mat.private-theme-has($theme, density),
-          mat.private-theme-has($color-only, density),
-          mat.private-theme-has($typography-only, density),
-          mat.private-theme-has($density-only, density),
-        )};
-      }
-    `);
-    expect(css).toMatch(/--base: true, false, false, false;/);
-    expect(css).toMatch(/--color: true, true, false, false;/);
-    expect(css).toMatch(/--typography: true, false, true, false;/);
-    expect(css).toMatch(/--density: true, false, false, true;/);
-  });
+      `);
+      expect(css).toMatch(/--base: true, false, false, false;/);
+      expect(css).toMatch(/--color: true, true, false, false;/);
+      expect(css).toMatch(/--typography: true, false, true, false;/);
+      expect(css).toMatch(/--density: true, false, false, true;/);
+    });
 
-  it('should error when reading theme type from a theme with no color information', () => {
-    expect(() =>
-      transpile(`
+    it('should error when reading theme type from a theme with no color information', () => {
+      expect(() =>
+        transpile(`
         $theme: matx.define-density();
         div {
           color: mat.private-get-theme-type($theme);
         }
       `),
-    ).toThrowError(/Color information is not available on this theme/);
-  });
+      ).toThrowError(/Color information is not available on this theme/);
+    });
 
-  it('should error when reading color from a theme with no color information', () => {
-    expect(() =>
-      transpile(`
+    it('should error when reading color from a theme with no color information', () => {
+      expect(() =>
+        transpile(`
         $theme: matx.define-density();
         div {
           color: mat.private-get-theme-color($theme, primary);
         }
       `),
-    ).toThrowError(/Color information is not available on this theme/);
-  });
+      ).toThrowError(/Color information is not available on this theme/);
+    });
 
-  it('should error when reading typography from a theme with no typography information', () => {
-    expect(() =>
-      transpile(`
-        $theme: matx.define-density();
-        div {
-          font: mat.private-get-theme-typography($theme, body-small);
-        }
-      `),
-    ).toThrowError(/Typography information is not available on this theme/);
-  });
+    it('should error when reading typography from a theme with no typography information', () => {
+      expect(() =>
+        transpile(`
+          $theme: matx.define-density();
+          div {
+            font: mat.private-get-theme-typography($theme, body-small);
+          }
+        `),
+      ).toThrowError(/Typography information is not available on this theme/);
+    });
 
-  it('should error when reading density from a theme with no density information', () => {
-    expect(() =>
-      transpile(`
-        $theme: matx.define-colors();
-        div {
-          --density: #{mat.private-get-theme-density($theme)};
-        }
-      `),
-    ).toThrowError(/Density information is not available on this theme/);
+    it('should error when reading density from a theme with no density information', () => {
+      expect(() =>
+        transpile(`
+          $theme: matx.define-colors();
+          div {
+            --density: #{mat.private-get-theme-density($theme)};
+          }
+        `),
+      ).toThrowError(/Density information is not available on this theme/);
+    });
   });
 });