diff --git a/packages/devtools_app/lib/src/shared/ui/side_panel.dart b/packages/devtools_app/lib/src/shared/ui/side_panel.dart
index 16d19434ebd..9174f9296b3 100644
--- a/packages/devtools_app/lib/src/shared/ui/side_panel.dart
+++ b/packages/devtools_app/lib/src/shared/ui/side_panel.dart
@@ -182,6 +182,17 @@ class SidePanel extends AnimatedWidget {
                 : Expanded(
                     child: Markdown(
                       data: markdownData!,
+                      styleSheet: MarkdownStyleSheet(
+                        // [MarkdownStyleSheet.fromTheme], which supplies the
+                        // rest of the style sheet, hard codes
+                        // `Colors.blue.shade100` as the blockquote fill while
+                        // taking the text color from the theme. In the dark
+                        // theme that draws light gray text on light blue.
+                        blockquoteDecoration: BoxDecoration(
+                          color: theme.colorScheme.secondaryContainer,
+                          borderRadius: defaultBorderRadius,
+                        ),
+                      ),
                       onTapLink: (text, url, title) =>
                           unawaited(launchUrlWithErrorHandling(url!)),
                     ),
diff --git a/packages/devtools_app/release_notes/NEXT_RELEASE_NOTES.md b/packages/devtools_app/release_notes/NEXT_RELEASE_NOTES.md
index f589bd1821b..87c945c27e6 100644
--- a/packages/devtools_app/release_notes/NEXT_RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/packages/devtools_app/release_notes/NEXT_RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ To learn more about DevTools, check out the
 
 ## General updates
 
-TODO: Remove this section if there are not any updates.
+* Fixed unreadable text in the release notes panel, where blockquotes were
+  drawn on a hard coded light blue background in the dark theme.
+  [#9957](https://github.com/flutter/devtools/pull/9957)
 
 ## Inspector updates
 
diff --git a/packages/devtools_app/test/shared/ui/side_panel_test.dart b/packages/devtools_app/test/shared/ui/side_panel_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8d003a08080
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/devtools_app/test/shared/ui/side_panel_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Flutter Authors
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file or at https://developers.google.com/open-source/licenses/bsd.
+
+import 'package:devtools_app/devtools_app.dart';
+import 'package:devtools_app_shared/ui.dart';
+import 'package:devtools_app_shared/utils.dart';
+import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+
+/// The smallest contrast ratio WCAG 2.1 accepts for body text at level AA.
+///
+/// See https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/#contrast-minimum.
+const _minimumContrastRatio = 4.5;
+
+void main() {
+  setUp(() {
+    setGlobal(IdeTheme, IdeTheme());
+  });
+
+  group('$SidePanelViewer', () {
+    // `MarkdownStyleSheet.fromTheme` fills blockquotes with
+    // `Colors.blue.shade100` but takes the text color from the theme, so a
+    // release note that opens with a blockquote drew `onSurface` text on light
+    // blue in the dark theme.
+    // Regression test for https://github.com/flutter/devtools/issues/9945.
+    for (final useDarkTheme in [true, false]) {
+      final themeName = useDarkTheme ? 'dark' : 'light';
+      testWidgets('blockquote text is legible in the $themeName theme', (
+        tester,
+      ) async {
+        const summary = 'Release notes for Dart and Flutter DevTools.';
+        final controller = SidePanelController();
+        await tester.pumpWidget(
+          MaterialApp(
+            theme: themeFor(
+              isDarkTheme: useDarkTheme,
+              ideTheme: IdeTheme(),
+              theme: ThemeData(
+                useMaterial3: true,
+                colorScheme: useDarkTheme ? darkColorScheme : lightColorScheme,
+              ),
+            ),
+            home: SidePanelViewer(controller: controller),
+          ),
+        );
+        controller.markdown.value = '# Release notes\n\n> $summary';
+        controller.toggleVisibility(true);
+        await tester.pumpAndSettle();
+
+        final summaryFinder = find.byWidgetPredicate(
+          (widget) =>
+              widget is RichText && widget.text.toPlainText() == summary,
+        );
+        expect(summaryFinder, findsOneWidget);
+
+        final textColor = _colorOfSpan(
+          tester.widget<RichText>(summaryFinder).text,
+          summary,
+        );
+        final fillColor = tester
+            .widgetList<DecoratedBox>(
+              find.ancestor(
+                of: summaryFinder,
+                matching: find.byType(DecoratedBox),
+              ),
+            )
+            .map((box) => box.decoration)
+            .whereType<BoxDecoration>()
+            .map((decoration) => decoration.color)
+            .nonNulls
+            .first;
+
+        expect(
+          _contrastRatio(textColor!, fillColor),
+          greaterThanOrEqualTo(_minimumContrastRatio),
+        );
+      });
+    }
+  });
+}
+
+/// The color the span holding [text] is painted with, or null if [root] holds
+/// no such span.
+Color? _colorOfSpan(InlineSpan root, String text) {
+  Color? color;
+  root.visitChildren((span) {
+    if (span is TextSpan && span.text == text) {
+      color = span.style?.color;
+      return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+  });
+  return color;
+}
+
+/// The WCAG contrast ratio between [a] and [b], from 1 (identical) to 21
+/// (black on white).
+double _contrastRatio(Color a, Color b) {
+  final luminances = [a.computeLuminance(), b.computeLuminance()]..sort();
+  return (luminances.last + 0.05) / (luminances.first + 0.05);
+}