@@ -1296,15 +1296,37 @@ def use(backend, *, force=True):
     rcParams['backend'] = os.environ.get('MPLBACKEND')
 
 
-def get_backend():
+def get_backend(resolve: bool = 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 resolve flag
+
+           The *resolve* flag is introduced provisionally in the anticipation
+           of backend resolution refactoring. We don't guarantee API stability
+           for now, but if all plays out well, the provisional availability
+           will prolong the range of supported releases for the migration period.
+
     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):
 
@@ -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 +104,9 @@ 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: ...
+def get_backend(*, resolve: bool = True) -> str | None: ...
 def interactive(b: bool) -> None: ...
 def is_interactive() -> bool: ...
 
 
@@ -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 matplotlib.get_backend(resolve=False) is None; "
          "import matplotlib.pyplot; "
          "print(matplotlib.get_backend())"],
         env=env, text=True, check=True, capture_output=True).stdout