diff --git a/backport-changelog/7.0/11790.md b/backport-changelog/7.0/11790.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..1ef4cb50e402d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backport-changelog/7.0/11790.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/11790
+
+* https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/77353
diff --git a/lib/compat/wordpress-7.0/connectors.php b/lib/compat/wordpress-7.0/connectors.php
index b37fd5b71cb73d..0e0d858e103585 100644
--- a/lib/compat/wordpress-7.0/connectors.php
+++ b/lib/compat/wordpress-7.0/connectors.php
@@ -235,3 +235,41 @@ function _gutenberg_connectors_add_settings_menu_item(): void {
 		1
 	);
 }
+
+/**
+ * Preloads the REST API responses the Connectors UI fetches on mount.
+ *
+ * Without this, the page does a network round-trip for site settings,
+ * plugin capability discovery, and each connector's plugin record after
+ * the JS hydrates, which noticeably delays first paint.
+ *
+ * @access private
+ *
+ * @param string[] $preload_paths Paths already queued for preloading.
+ * @return string[] Paths with the Connectors-specific requests appended.
+ */
+function _gutenberg_connectors_preload_paths( array $preload_paths ): array {
+	// getEntityRecord( 'root', 'site' ) in stage.tsx / use-connector-plugin.ts.
+	$preload_paths[] = '/wp/v2/settings';
+
+	// canUser( 'create', { kind: 'root', name: 'plugin' } ) in stage.tsx.
+	$preload_paths[] = array( '/wp/v2/plugins', 'OPTIONS' );
+
+	// AiPluginCallout in routes/connectors-home/ai-plugin-callout.tsx queries this
+	// hardcoded ID to check whether the WP AI plugin is installed/active.
+	$preload_paths[] = '/wp/v2/plugins/ai/ai?context=edit';
+
+	// getEntityRecord( 'root', 'plugin', <basename> ) per connector in use-connector-plugin.ts.
+	foreach ( wp_get_connectors() as $connector_data ) {
+		if ( empty( $connector_data['plugin']['file'] ) ) {
+			continue;
+		}
+		// core-data's plugin entity uses the basename with `.php` stripped
+		// as the record key (see routes/connectors-home/use-connector-plugin.ts).
+		$basename        = preg_replace( '/\.php$/', '', plugin_basename( $connector_data['plugin']['file'] ) );
+		$preload_paths[] = '/wp/v2/plugins/' . $basename . '?context=edit';
+	}
+
+	return $preload_paths;
+}
+add_filter( 'options-connectors-wp-admin_preload_paths', '_gutenberg_connectors_preload_paths' );
diff --git a/packages/wp-build/templates/page-wp-admin.php.template b/packages/wp-build/templates/page-wp-admin.php.template
index e8bef9d71982ff..6d987a14693582 100644
--- a/packages/wp-build/templates/page-wp-admin.php.template
+++ b/packages/wp-build/templates/page-wp-admin.php.template
@@ -93,6 +93,18 @@ function {{PREFIX}}_{{PAGE_SLUG_UNDERSCORE}}_wp_admin_preload_data() {
 		array( '/wp/v2/settings', 'OPTIONS' ),
 	);
 
+	/**
+	 * Filters the REST API paths preloaded for this page.
+	 *
+	 * Each entry is either a string path (GET) or a `[ path, method ]` tuple.
+	 * Pages that know which requests their JS will issue on mount can add
+	 * them here so the responses are embedded in the initial HTML rather
+	 * than fetched over the network after hydration.
+	 *
+	 * @param string[] $preload_paths Paths to preload.
+	 */
+	$preload_paths = apply_filters( '{{PAGE_SLUG}}-wp-admin_preload_paths', $preload_paths );
+
 	// Use rest_preload_api_request to gather the preloaded data
 	$preload_data = array_reduce(
 		$preload_paths,