diff --git a/themes/System/gimp-light.css b/themes/System/gimp-light.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f83947a854
--- /dev/null
+++ b/themes/System/gimp-light.css
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+/* GIMP theme CSS file */
+/* Additional rules for light variant System themes */
+
+@import url("gimp.css");
+
+/* Make sure symbolic layer tree icons are visible */
+treeview {
+  color: black;
+}
+
+treeview header {
+  color: rgb (196, 197, 197);
+}
diff --git a/themes/System/meson.build b/themes/System/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a10b0cc432
--- /dev/null
+++ b/themes/System/meson.build
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+files = [
+  'gimp-light.css'
+]
+
+install_data(files,
+             install_dir: gimpdatadir / 'themes' / 'System')
diff --git a/themes/meson.build b/themes/meson.build
index 5f1ab2bba1..7bb13ad9e7 100644
--- a/themes/meson.build
+++ b/themes/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 subdir('Default')
+subdir('System')
 
 themes = [
   'System',