diff --git a/packages/app/src/components/terminal-emulator.tsx b/packages/app/src/components/terminal-emulator.tsx
index 05b23b396..63da1356b 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/components/terminal-emulator.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/components/terminal-emulator.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,41 @@
 "use dom";
 
-import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
+import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef } from "react";
 import type { DOMProps } from "expo/dom";
 import "@xterm/xterm/css/xterm.css";
 import type { ITheme } from "@xterm/xterm";
 import type { PendingTerminalModifiers } from "../utils/terminal-keys";
 import { TerminalEmulatorRuntime } from "../terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime";
 
+function buildXtermThemeKey(theme: ITheme): string {
+  const values: Array<string> = [
+    theme.background,
+    theme.foreground,
+    theme.cursor,
+    theme.cursorAccent,
+    theme.selectionBackground,
+    theme.selectionForeground,
+    theme.black,
+    theme.red,
+    theme.green,
+    theme.yellow,
+    theme.blue,
+    theme.magenta,
+    theme.cyan,
+    theme.white,
+    theme.brightBlack,
+    theme.brightRed,
+    theme.brightGreen,
+    theme.brightYellow,
+    theme.brightBlue,
+    theme.brightMagenta,
+    theme.brightCyan,
+    theme.brightWhite,
+  ].map((value) => (typeof value === "string" ? value : ""));
+
+  return values.join("|");
+}
+
 interface TerminalEmulatorProps {
   dom?: DOMProps;
   streamKey: string;
@@ -67,6 +96,13 @@ export default function TerminalEmulator({
   const hostRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   const runtimeRef = useRef<TerminalEmulatorRuntime | null>(null);
   const appliedInitialOutputRef = useRef<string | null>(null);
+  const mountedThemeRef = useRef<ITheme>(xtermTheme);
+  const themeKey = useMemo(() => buildXtermThemeKey(xtermTheme), [xtermTheme]);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    mountedThemeRef.current = xtermTheme;
+    runtimeRef.current?.setTheme({ theme: xtermTheme });
+  }, [themeKey]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const root = rootRef.current;
@@ -206,7 +242,7 @@ export default function TerminalEmulator({
       root,
       host,
       initialOutputText,
-      theme: xtermTheme,
+      theme: mountedThemeRef.current,
     });
     appliedInitialOutputRef.current = initialOutputText;
 
@@ -217,7 +253,7 @@ export default function TerminalEmulator({
       }
       appliedInitialOutputRef.current = null;
     };
-  }, [streamKey, xtermTheme]);
+  }, [streamKey]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const runtime = runtimeRef.current;
diff --git a/packages/app/src/terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime.test.ts b/packages/app/src/terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime.test.ts
index 30f599dcb..2bc5688c4 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ type StubTerminal = {
   write: (text: string, callback?: () => void) => void;
   reset: () => void;
   focus: () => void;
+  refresh?: (start: number, end: number) => void;
+  options?: { theme?: unknown };
+  rows?: number;
 };
 
 function createRuntimeWithTerminal(): {
@@ -33,6 +36,9 @@ function createRuntimeWithTerminal(): {
       terminal.resetCalls = resetCalls;
     },
     focus: () => {},
+    refresh: () => {},
+    options: { theme: undefined },
+    rows: 0,
     resetCalls,
   };
 
@@ -171,4 +177,23 @@ describe("terminal-emulator-runtime", () => {
     expect(fitAndEmitResize).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, false);
     expect(fitAndEmitResize).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, true);
   });
+
+  it("updates terminal theme without remounting", () => {
+    const runtime = new TerminalEmulatorRuntime();
+    const refresh = vi.fn();
+    const terminal: StubTerminal = {
+      write: () => {},
+      reset: () => {},
+      focus: () => {},
+      refresh,
+      options: { theme: { background: "before" } },
+      rows: 12,
+    };
+    (runtime as unknown as { terminal: StubTerminal }).terminal = terminal;
+
+    runtime.setTheme({ theme: { background: "after" } as never });
+
+    expect(terminal.options?.theme).toEqual({ background: "after" });
+    expect(refresh).toHaveBeenCalledWith(0, 11);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/app/src/terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime.ts b/packages/app/src/terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime.ts
index 9f596aa97..38f9bb3b0 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/terminal/runtime/terminal-emulator-runtime.ts
@@ -464,6 +464,30 @@ export class TerminalEmulatorRuntime {
     this.fitAndEmitResize?.(input?.force ?? false);
   }
 
+  setTheme(input: { theme: ITheme }): void {
+    const terminal = this.terminal;
+    if (!terminal) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      terminal.options.theme = input.theme;
+      terminalDebugLog({
+        scope: "emulator-runtime",
+        event: "theme:update",
+      });
+    } catch {
+      // ignore
+      return;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      terminal.refresh(0, Math.max(0, terminal.rows - 1));
+    } catch {
+      // ignore
+    }
+  }
+
   focus(): void {
     this.terminal?.focus();
   }