diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
index 23643a53d811..47f1f4a6d0ed 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
@@ -1296,15 +1296,35 @@ def use(backend, *, force=True):
     rcParams['backend'] = os.environ.get('MPLBACKEND')
 
 
-def get_backend():
+def get_backend(*, resolve=True):
     """
     Return the name of the current backend.
 
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    resolve : bool, default: True
+        Whether to trigger backend resolution if no backend has been
+        selected so far. If True, this ensures that a valid backend
+        is returned. If False, this returns None if no backend has been
+        selected so far.
+
+        .. admonition:: Provisional
+
+           The *resolve* flag is provisional. It may be changed or removed
+           without prior warning.
+
     See Also
     --------
     matplotlib.use
     """
-    return rcParams['backend']
+    if resolve:
+        return rcParams['backend']
+    else:
+        backend = rcParams._get('backend')
+        if backend is rcsetup._auto_backend_sentinel():
+            return None
+        else:
+            return backend
 
 
 def interactive(b):
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.pyi
index 5b6797d3a7da..9c1d1e560afd 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.pyi
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.pyi
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ import contextlib
 from packaging.version import Version
 
 from matplotlib._api import MatplotlibDeprecationWarning
-from typing import Any, NamedTuple
+from typing import Any, Literal, NamedTuple, overload
 
 class _VersionInfo(NamedTuple):
     major: int
@@ -104,7 +104,10 @@ def rc_context(
     rc: dict[str, Any] | None = ..., fname: str | Path | os.PathLike | None = ...
 ) -> Generator[None, None, None]: ...
 def use(backend: str, *, force: bool = ...) -> None: ...
-def get_backend() -> str: ...
+@overload
+def get_backend(*, resolve: Literal[True] = True) -> str: ...
+@overload
+def get_backend(*, resolve: Literal[False]) -> str | None: ...
 def interactive(b: bool) -> None: ...
 def is_interactive() -> bool: ...
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
index 0aa3ec0ba603..ef054f7492f0 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_rcparams.py
@@ -554,6 +554,7 @@ def test_backend_fallback_headful(tmp_path):
          # Check that access on another instance does not resolve the sentinel.
          "assert mpl.RcParams({'backend': sentinel})['backend'] == sentinel; "
          "assert mpl.rcParams._get('backend') == sentinel; "
+         "assert mpl.get_backend(resolve=False) is None; "
          "import matplotlib.pyplot; "
          "print(matplotlib.get_backend())"],
         env=env, text=True, check=True, capture_output=True).stdout