diff --git a/goldens/public-api/core/errors.api.md b/goldens/public-api/core/errors.api.md
index 763515d9615..a36840c787d 100644
--- a/goldens/public-api/core/errors.api.md
+++ b/goldens/public-api/core/errors.api.md
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ export const enum RuntimeErrorCode {
     // (undocumented)
     LOOP_TRACK_RECREATE = -956,
     // (undocumented)
+    MISCONFIGURED_INCREMENTAL_HYDRATION = 508,
+    // (undocumented)
     MISSING_DOCUMENT = 210,
     // (undocumented)
     MISSING_GENERATED_DEF = 906,
diff --git a/packages/core/src/defer/instructions.ts b/packages/core/src/defer/instructions.ts
index b9d7880219d..588519ed628 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/defer/instructions.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/defer/instructions.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ import {onTimer, scheduleTimerTrigger} from './timer_scheduler';
 import {
   addDepsToRegistry,
   assertDeferredDependenciesLoaded,
+  assertIncrementalHydrationIsConfigured,
   getLDeferBlockDetails,
   getLoadingBlockAfter,
   getMinimumDurationForState,
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ import {
   setLDeferBlockDetails,
   setTDeferBlockDetails,
 } from './utils';
-import {DeferBlockRegistry} from './registry';
+import {DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY, DeferBlockRegistry} from './registry';
 import {incrementallyHydrateFromBlockName} from '../hydration/blocks';
 import {isIncrementalHydrationEnabled} from '../hydration/utils';
 
@@ -319,11 +320,11 @@ export function ɵɵdefer(
 
   let registry: DeferBlockRegistry | null = null;
   if (ssrUniqueId !== null) {
-    // TODO(incremental-hydration): explore how we can make
-    // `DeferBlockRegistry` tree-shakable for client-only cases.
-    registry = injector.get(DeferBlockRegistry);
+    ngDevMode && assertIncrementalHydrationIsConfigured(injector);
 
-    // Also store this defer block in the registry.
+    // Store this defer block in the registry, to have an access to
+    // internal data structures from hydration runtime code.
+    registry = injector.get(DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY);
     registry.add(ssrUniqueId, {lView, tNode, lContainer});
   }
 
@@ -1444,7 +1445,7 @@ export function triggerDeferBlock(lView: LView, tNode: TNode) {
 
   let registry: DeferBlockRegistry | null = null;
   if (isIncrementalHydrationEnabled(injector)) {
-    registry = injector.get(DeferBlockRegistry);
+    registry = injector.get(DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY);
   }
   // Defer block is triggered, cleanup all registered trigger functions.
   invokeAllTriggerCleanupFns(lDetails, registry);
diff --git a/packages/core/src/defer/registry.ts b/packages/core/src/defer/registry.ts
index a8a69d28925..9f4b545be4a 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/defer/registry.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/defer/registry.ts
@@ -5,10 +5,18 @@
  * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
-import {ɵɵdefineInjectable} from '../di';
+import {InjectionToken} from '../di/injection_token';
+import {ɵɵdefineInjectable} from '../di/interface/defs';
 import {DeferBlock} from './interfaces';
 
-// TODO(incremental-hydration): refactor this so that it's not used in CSR cases
+/**
+ * An internal injection token to reference `DeferBlockRegistry` implementation
+ * in a tree-shakable way.
+ */
+export const DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY = new InjectionToken<DeferBlockRegistry>(
+  ngDevMode ? 'DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY' : '',
+);
+
 /**
  * The DeferBlockRegistry is used for incremental hydration purposes. It keeps
  * track of the Defer Blocks that need hydration so we can effectively
@@ -73,7 +81,7 @@ export class DeferBlockRegistry {
   /** @nocollapse */
   static ɵprov = /** @pureOrBreakMyCode */ /* @__PURE__ */ ɵɵdefineInjectable({
     token: DeferBlockRegistry,
-    providedIn: 'root',
+    providedIn: null,
     factory: () => new DeferBlockRegistry(),
   });
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/defer/utils.ts b/packages/core/src/defer/utils.ts
index 5422cc939c9..6d4a7b872b2 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/defer/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/defer/utils.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.dev/license
  */
 
+import {Injector} from '../di';
+import {RuntimeError, RuntimeErrorCode} from '../errors';
+import {isIncrementalHydrationEnabled} from '../hydration/utils';
 import {assertIndexInDeclRange} from '../render3/assert';
 import {DependencyDef} from '../render3/interfaces/definition';
 import {TContainerNode, TNode} from '../render3/interfaces/node';
@@ -181,3 +184,16 @@ export function isDeferBlock(tView: TView, tNode: TNode): boolean {
   }
   return !!tDetails && isTDeferBlockDetails(tDetails);
 }
+
+/** Throws an error if the incremental hydration is not enabled */
+export function assertIncrementalHydrationIsConfigured(injector: Injector) {
+  if (!isIncrementalHydrationEnabled(injector)) {
+    throw new RuntimeError(
+      RuntimeErrorCode.MISCONFIGURED_INCREMENTAL_HYDRATION,
+      'Angular has detected that some `@defer` blocks use `hydrate` triggers, ' +
+        'but incremental hydration was not enabled. Please ensure that the `withIncrementalHydration()` ' +
+        'call is added as an argument for the `provideClientHydration()` function call ' +
+        'in your application config.',
+    );
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/src/errors.ts b/packages/core/src/errors.ts
index 1914893e324..35577463a27 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/errors.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/errors.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ export const enum RuntimeErrorCode {
   MISSING_HYDRATION_ANNOTATIONS = -505,
   HYDRATION_STABLE_TIMEDOUT = -506,
   MISSING_SSR_CONTENT_INTEGRITY_MARKER = -507,
+  MISCONFIGURED_INCREMENTAL_HYDRATION = 508,
 
   // Signal Errors
   SIGNAL_WRITE_FROM_ILLEGAL_CONTEXT = 600,
diff --git a/packages/core/src/hydration/api.ts b/packages/core/src/hydration/api.ts
index 4c9de4480f6..7006e64990f 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/hydration/api.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/hydration/api.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import {
 import {enableRetrieveHydrationInfoImpl, NGH_DATA_KEY, SSR_CONTENT_INTEGRITY_MARKER} from './utils';
 import {enableFindMatchingDehydratedViewImpl} from './views';
 import {bootstrapIncrementalHydration, enableRetrieveDeferBlockDataImpl} from './incremental';
+import {DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY, DeferBlockRegistry} from '../defer/registry';
 
 /**
  * Indicates whether the hydration-related code was added,
@@ -326,6 +327,10 @@ export function withIncrementalHydration(): Provider[] {
       provide: IS_INCREMENTAL_HYDRATION_ENABLED,
       useValue: true,
     },
+    {
+      provide: DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY,
+      useClass: DeferBlockRegistry,
+    },
     {
       provide: ENVIRONMENT_INITIALIZER,
       useValue: () => {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/hydration/blocks.ts b/packages/core/src/hydration/blocks.ts
index e428707deda..2ab3e03fb97 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/hydration/blocks.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/hydration/blocks.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
 
-import {DeferBlockRegistry} from '../defer/registry';
+import {DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY} from '../defer/registry';
 import {DEFER_PARENT_BLOCK_ID} from './interfaces';
 import {NGH_DEFER_BLOCKS_KEY} from './utils';
 import {Injector} from '../di';
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import {assertEqual} from '../util/assert';
  * Note: This is utilizing serialized information to navigate up the tree
  */
 export function getParentBlockHydrationQueue(deferBlockId: string, injector: Injector) {
-  const deferBlockRegistry = injector.get(DeferBlockRegistry);
+  const deferBlockRegistry = injector.get(DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY);
   const transferState = injector.get(TransferState);
   const deferBlockParents = transferState.get(NGH_DEFER_BLOCKS_KEY, {});
 
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ export async function hydrateFromBlockName(
   deferBlock: DeferBlock | null;
   hydratedBlocks: Set<string>;
 }> {
-  const deferBlockRegistry = injector.get(DeferBlockRegistry);
+  const deferBlockRegistry = injector.get(DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY);
 
   // Make sure we don't hydrate/trigger the same thing multiple times
   if (deferBlockRegistry.hydrating.has(blockName))
diff --git a/packages/core/src/hydration/incremental.ts b/packages/core/src/hydration/incremental.ts
index 76acc1d9b59..87f066fb755 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/hydration/incremental.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/hydration/incremental.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 import {TransferState} from '../transfer_state';
 import {onIdle} from '../defer/idle_scheduler';
 import {DeferBlockTrigger} from '../defer/interfaces';
-import {DeferBlockRegistry} from '../defer/registry';
+import {DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY} from '../defer/registry';
 import {onTimer} from '../defer/timer_scheduler';
 import {Injector} from '../di';
 import {assertDefined} from '../util/assert';
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ function processAndInitTriggers(
 
 async function setIdleTriggers(injector: Injector, elementTriggers: ElementTrigger[]) {
   for (const elementTrigger of elementTriggers) {
-    const registry = injector.get(DeferBlockRegistry);
+    const registry = injector.get(DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY);
     const onInvoke = () =>
       incrementallyHydrateFromBlockName(
         injector,
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ async function setViewportTriggers(injector: Injector, elementTriggers: ElementT
 
 async function setTimerTriggers(injector: Injector, elementTriggers: ElementTrigger[]) {
   for (const elementTrigger of elementTriggers) {
-    const registry = injector.get(DeferBlockRegistry);
+    const registry = injector.get(DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY);
     const onInvoke = async () =>
       await incrementallyHydrateFromBlockName(
         injector,
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/defer/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/defer/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index 4784f36c09c..c8c8de007b9 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/defer/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/defer/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@
   {
     "name": "DEFER_BLOCK_ID"
   },
+  {
+    "name": "DEFER_BLOCK_REGISTRY"
+  },
   {
     "name": "DEFER_BLOCK_STATE"
   },
@@ -143,9 +146,6 @@
   {
     "name": "DeferBlockInternalState"
   },
-  {
-    "name": "DeferBlockRegistry"
-  },
   {
     "name": "DeferBlockState"
   },