diff --git a/src/plugins/relay/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/relay/CMakeLists.txt
index 39537fa2a..0103e3d19 100644
--- a/src/plugins/relay/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/relay/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ set(RELAY_SRC
   relay-raw.c relay-raw.h
   relay-remote.c relay-remote.h
   relay-server.c relay-server.h
+  relay-theme.c relay-theme.h
   relay-upgrade.c relay-upgrade.h
   relay-websocket.c relay-websocket.h
   # irc relay
diff --git a/src/plugins/relay/relay-theme.c b/src/plugins/relay/relay-theme.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4d120e856
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugins/relay/relay-theme.c
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sébastien Helleu <flashcode@flashtux.org>
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+ *
+ * This file is part of WeeChat, the extensible chat client.
+ *
+ * WeeChat is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * WeeChat is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with WeeChat.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+/* relay contribution to built-in themes. */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include "config.h"
+#endif
+
+#include <stddef.h>
+
+#include "../weechat-plugin.h"
+#include "relay.h"
+#include "relay-theme.h"
+
+
+const char *relay_theme_light[][2] =
+{
+    { "relay.color.status_auth_failed",     "magenta" },
+    { "relay.color.status_authenticating",  "202" },
+    { "relay.color.status_connecting",      "default" },
+    { "relay.color.status_disconnected",    "red" },
+    { "relay.color.text_selected",          "default" },
+    { NULL,                                 NULL },
+};
+
+void
+relay_theme_register (const char *name, const char *entries[][2])
+{
+    struct t_hashtable *overrides;
+    int i;
+
+    if (!name || !entries)
+        return;
+
+    overrides = weechat_hashtable_new (32,
+                                       WEECHAT_HASHTABLE_STRING,
+                                       WEECHAT_HASHTABLE_STRING,
+                                       NULL, NULL);
+    if (!overrides)
+        return;
+
+    for (i = 0; entries[i][0]; i++)
+        weechat_hashtable_set (overrides, entries[i][0], entries[i][1]);
+
+    weechat_theme_register (name, overrides);
+
+    weechat_hashtable_free (overrides);
+}
+
+void
+relay_theme_init (void)
+{
+    relay_theme_register ("light", relay_theme_light);
+}
diff --git a/src/plugins/relay/relay-theme.h b/src/plugins/relay/relay-theme.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eb81b9115
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugins/relay/relay-theme.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sébastien Helleu <flashcode@flashtux.org>
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+ *
+ * This file is part of WeeChat, the extensible chat client.
+ *
+ * WeeChat is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * WeeChat is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with WeeChat.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef WEECHAT_PLUGIN_RELAY_THEME_H
+#define WEECHAT_PLUGIN_RELAY_THEME_H
+
+extern void relay_theme_init (void);
+
+#endif /* WEECHAT_PLUGIN_RELAY_THEME_H */
diff --git a/src/plugins/relay/relay.c b/src/plugins/relay/relay.c
index 16dfcc481..c170aaa29 100644
--- a/src/plugins/relay/relay.c
+++ b/src/plugins/relay/relay.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "relay-raw.h"
 #include "relay-remote.h"
 #include "relay-server.h"
+#include "relay-theme.h"
 #include "relay-upgrade.h"
 
 
@@ -376,6 +377,8 @@ weechat_plugin_init (struct t_weechat_plugin *plugin, int argc, char *argv[])
 
     relay_config_read ();
 
+    relay_theme_init ();
+
     relay_network_init ();
 
     relay_command_init ();