diff --git a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/_tabs-common.scss b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/_tabs-common.scss
index cc228e8e3fc5..432aa2964b69 100644
--- a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/_tabs-common.scss
+++ b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/_tabs-common.scss
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 @use '@material/ripple' as mdc-ripple;
 @use '@material/tab' as mdc-tab;
+@use '@material/tab-indicator' as mdc-tab-indicator;
 @use 'sass:map';
 @use '../../material/core/style/vendor-prefixes';
 @use '../../cdk/a11y';
@@ -7,6 +8,21 @@
 
 $mat-tab-animation-duration: 500ms !default;
 
+// Combines the various structural styles we need for the tab group and tab nav bar.
+@mixin structural-styles {
+  @include mdc-tab.without-ripple($query: mdc-helpers.$mat-base-styles-query);
+  @include mdc-tab-indicator.core-styles($query: mdc-helpers.$mat-base-styles-query);
+
+  .mat-mdc-tab-ripple {
+    position: absolute;
+    top: 0;
+    left: 0;
+    bottom: 0;
+    right: 0;
+    pointer-events: none;
+  }
+}
+
 @mixin tab {
   &.mdc-tab {
     // This is usually included by MDC's tab bar, however we don't
@@ -58,17 +74,6 @@ $mat-tab-animation-duration: 500ms !default;
   }
 }
 
-@mixin tab-ripple {
-  .mat-mdc-tab-ripple {
-    position: absolute;
-    top: 0;
-    left: 0;
-    bottom: 0;
-    right: 0;
-    pointer-events: none;
-  }
-}
-
 // Structural styles for a tab header. Used by both `mat-tab-header` and `mat-tab-nav-bar`.
 // We need this styles on top of MDC's, because MDC doesn't support pagination like ours.
 @mixin paginated-tab-header {
diff --git a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/_tabs-theme.scss b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/_tabs-theme.scss
index 580ccbee371d..ccb1253521bb 100644
--- a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/_tabs-theme.scss
+++ b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/_tabs-theme.scss
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+@use 'sass:map';
 @use '@material/theme/theme-color' as mdc-theme-color;
 @use '@material/theme/theme' as mdc-theme;
 @use '@material/tab-indicator' as mdc-tab-indicator;
+@use '@material/tab-indicator/tab-indicator-theme' as mdc-tab-indicator-theme;
 @use '@material/tab' as mdc-tab;
+@use '@material/tab/tab-theme' as mdc-tab-theme;
 @use '@material/tab-bar' as mdc-tab-bar;
 @use '../mdc-helpers/mdc-helpers';
 @use '../../material/core/typography/typography';
@@ -9,31 +12,59 @@
 
 @mixin color($config-or-theme) {
   $config: theming.get-color-config($config-or-theme);
-  // Save original values of MDC global variables. We need to save these so we can restore the
-  // variables to their original values and prevent unintended side effects from using this mixin.
-  $orig-text-label-color-active: mdc-tab.$text-label-color-active;
-  $orig-icon-color-active: mdc-tab.$icon-color-active;
-  $orig-text-label-color-default: mdc-tab.$text-label-color-default;
+  $primary: theming.get-color-from-palette(map.get($config, primary));
+  $accent: theming.get-color-from-palette(map.get($config, accent));
+  $warn: theming.get-color-from-palette(map.get($config, warn));
 
   @include mdc-helpers.mat-using-mdc-theme($config) {
-    // This value is the same as MDC's default, but MDC defines it once inside
-    // a variables file which means that we can't override it with our own palette.
-    mdc-tab.$text-label-color-default:
-        rgba(mdc-theme-color.prop-value(on-surface), mdc-tab.$text-label-opacity);
+    .mat-mdc-tab, .mat-mdc-tab-link {
+      $surface: mdc-theme-color.$surface;
+      $on-surface: rgba(mdc-theme-color.$on-surface, 0.6);
+
+      // TODO(crisbeto): these styles should actually be set through the `theme` mixin while the
+      // `theme-styles` are included in the `tab` mixin inside `_tabs-common.scss`. Currently
+      // they are not, because `theme-styles` outputs the token values directly, rather than
+      // generating CSS variables.
+      @include mdc-tab-theme.theme-styles(map.merge(mdc-tab-theme.$light-theme, (
+        container-color: $surface,
+        inactive-focus-state-layer-color: $on-surface,
+        inactive-hover-state-layer-color: $on-surface,
+        inactive-pressed-state-layer-color: $on-surface,
+        with-icon-inactive-focus-icon-color: $on-surface,
+        with-icon-inactive-hover-icon-color: $on-surface,
+        with-icon-inactive-icon-color: $on-surface,
+        with-icon-inactive-pressed-icon-color: $on-surface,
+        with-label-text-inactive-focus-label-text-color: $on-surface,
+        with-label-text-inactive-hover-label-text-color: $on-surface,
+        with-label-text-inactive-label-text-color: $on-surface,
+        with-label-text-inactive-pressed-label-text-color: $on-surface,
+
+        // TODO(crisbeto): MDC's styles are set up so that the icon size is set through a
+        // `font-size` at the root of the tab while the text size of the tab is set on
+        // `.mdc-tab__text-label` which overrides the one from the root. The problem is that the
+        // `$light-theme` is looking for a `subhead2` level which doesn't exist in MDC's code which
+        // in turn causes no text label styles to be emitted and for the icon size to be applied to
+        // the entire tab. Since we don't support icons inside the tab anyway, we can temporarily
+        // work around it by preventing MDC from emitting icon styles. The correct label typography
+        // will be applied by our theme instead.
+        with-icon-icon-size: null
+      )));
+
+      // MDC seems to include a background color on tabs which only stands out on dark themes.
+      // Disable for now for backwards compatibility. These styles are inside the theme in order
+      // to avoid CSS specificity issues.
+      background-color: transparent;
+    }
 
-    @include _palette-styles(mdc-tab.$text-label-color-active);
+    @include _palette-styles($primary);
 
     .mat-mdc-tab-group, .mat-mdc-tab-nav-bar {
       &.mat-accent {
-        mdc-tab.$text-label-color-active: secondary;
-        mdc-tab.$icon-color-active: secondary;
-        @include _palette-styles(mdc-tab.$text-label-color-active);
+        @include _palette-styles($accent);
       }
 
       &.mat-warn {
-        mdc-tab.$text-label-color-active: error;
-        mdc-tab.$icon-color-active: error;
-        @include _palette-styles(mdc-tab.$text-label-color-active);
+        @include _palette-styles($warn);
       }
     }
 
@@ -55,11 +86,6 @@
       @include mdc-theme.prop(border-color, on-surface);
     }
   }
-
-  // Restore original values of MDC global variables.
-  mdc-tab.$text-label-color-active: $orig-text-label-color-active;
-  mdc-tab.$icon-color-active: $orig-icon-color-active;
-  mdc-tab.$text-label-color-default: $orig-text-label-color-default;
 }
 
 @mixin _background($background-color, $foreground-color) {
@@ -73,7 +99,7 @@
 
   > .mat-mdc-tab-header, > .mat-mdc-tab-link-container {
     // Set labels to contrast against background
-    .mdc-tab__text-label, .mat-mdc-tab-link {
+    .mat-mdc-tab .mdc-tab__text-label, .mat-mdc-tab-link .mdc-tab__text-label {
       @include mdc-theme.prop(color, $foreground-color);
     }
 
@@ -96,9 +122,29 @@
 }
 
 @mixin _palette-styles($color) {
-  @include mdc-tab.without-ripple($query: mdc-helpers.$mat-theme-styles-query);
-  @include mdc-tab-indicator.underline-color($color, $query: mdc-helpers.$mat-theme-styles-query);
-  @include mdc-tab-indicator.icon-color($color, $query: mdc-helpers.$mat-theme-styles-query);
+  .mat-mdc-tab, .mat-mdc-tab-link {
+    // TODO(crisbeto): these styles should actually be set through the `theme` mixin while the
+    // `theme-styles` are included in the `tab` mixin inside `_tabs-common.scss`. Currently
+    // they are not, because `theme-styles` outputs the token values directly, rather than
+    // generating CSS variables.
+    @include mdc-tab-theme.theme-styles((
+      active-focus-state-layer-color: $color,
+      active-hover-state-layer-color: $color,
+      active-pressed-state-layer-color: $color,
+      with-icon-active-focus-icon-color: $color,
+      with-icon-active-hover-icon-color: $color,
+      with-icon-active-icon-color: $color,
+      with-icon-active-pressed-icon-color: $color,
+      with-label-text-active-focus-label-text-color: $color,
+      with-label-text-active-hover-label-text-color: $color,
+      with-label-text-active-label-text-color: $color,
+      with-label-text-active-pressed-label-text-color: $color,
+    ));
+
+    @include mdc-tab-indicator-theme.theme-styles((
+      active-indicator-color: $color
+    ));
+  }
 
   .mdc-tab__ripple::before,
   .mat-mdc-tab .mat-ripple-element,
diff --git a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-group.scss b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-group.scss
index fbe2785a0964..62c9691fc14e 100644
--- a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-group.scss
+++ b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-group.scss
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
-@use '@material/tab' as mdc-tab;
 @use '../../material/core/style/variables';
 @use '../../material/core/style/private';
-@use '../mdc-helpers/mdc-helpers';
 @use './tabs-common';
 
-@include mdc-tab.without-ripple($query: mdc-helpers.$mat-base-styles-query);
-@include tabs-common.tab-ripple;
+@include tabs-common.structural-styles;
 
 .mat-mdc-tab {
   @include tabs-common.tab;
diff --git a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-header.scss b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-header.scss
index cc6ac77cef7d..6e98db2fe11c 100644
--- a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-header.scss
+++ b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-header.scss
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
-@use '@material/tab-indicator' as mdc-tab-indicator;
-@use '../mdc-helpers/mdc-helpers';
 @use './tabs-common';
 
-@include mdc-tab-indicator.core-styles($query: mdc-helpers.$mat-base-styles-query);
 @include tabs-common.paginated-tab-header;
 
 .mat-mdc-tab-label-container {
diff --git a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-link.scss b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-link.scss
index 7c8b9f756a8c..cdd5ac83ac81 100644
--- a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-link.scss
+++ b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-link.scss
@@ -1,13 +1,6 @@
-@use '@material/tab' as mdc-tab;
-@use '@material/tab-indicator' as mdc-tab-indicator;
 @use '../../../material/core/style/variables';
-@use '../../mdc-helpers/mdc-helpers';
 @use '../tabs-common';
 
-@include mdc-tab.without-ripple($query: mdc-helpers.$mat-base-styles-query);
-@include mdc-tab-indicator.core-styles($query: mdc-helpers.$mat-base-styles-query);
-@include tabs-common.tab-ripple;
-
 // Wraps each link in the header
 .mat-mdc-tab-link {
   @include tabs-common.tab;
diff --git a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-nav-bar.scss b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-nav-bar.scss
index 334886d45280..1d10da3c4bec 100644
--- a/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-nav-bar.scss
+++ b/src/material-experimental/mdc-tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-nav-bar.scss
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 @use '../tabs-common';
 
+@include tabs-common.structural-styles;
 @include tabs-common.paginated-tab-header;
 
 .mat-mdc-tab-links {