diff --git a/src/material/form-field/_form-field-subscript.scss b/src/material/form-field/_form-field-subscript.scss
index 2f17b7950980..2e3da86d9899 100644
--- a/src/material/form-field/_form-field-subscript.scss
+++ b/src/material/form-field/_form-field-subscript.scss
@@ -3,6 +3,18 @@
 @use '../core/tokens/token-utils';
 
 @mixin private-form-field-subscript() {
+  @keyframes _mat-form-field-subscript-animation {
+    from {
+      opacity: 0;
+      transform: translateY(-5px);
+    }
+
+    to {
+      opacity: 1;
+      transform: translateY(0);
+    }
+  }
+
   // Wrapper for the hints and error messages.
   .mat-mdc-form-field-subscript-wrapper {
     box-sizing: border-box;
@@ -17,6 +29,12 @@
     left: 0;
     right: 0;
     padding: 0 16px;
+    opacity: 1;
+    transform: translateY(0);
+
+    // Note: animation-duration gets set when animations are enabled.
+    // This allows us to skip the animation on init.
+    animation: _mat-form-field-subscript-animation 0ms cubic-bezier(0.55, 0, 0.55, 0.2);
   }
 
   .mat-mdc-form-field-subscript-dynamic-size {
diff --git a/src/material/form-field/_mdc-text-field-structure.scss b/src/material/form-field/_mdc-text-field-structure.scss
index d28b847924d2..3f00d56b11ab 100644
--- a/src/material/form-field/_mdc-text-field-structure.scss
+++ b/src/material/form-field/_mdc-text-field-structure.scss
@@ -611,8 +611,11 @@
   }
 
   .mdc-line-ripple::after {
-    transition:
-      transform 180ms $timing-curve,
-      opacity 180ms $timing-curve;
+    transition: transform 180ms $timing-curve, opacity 180ms $timing-curve;
+  }
+
+  .mat-mdc-form-field-hint-wrapper,
+  .mat-mdc-form-field-error-wrapper {
+    animation-duration: 300ms;
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/material/form-field/form-field-animations.ts b/src/material/form-field/form-field-animations.ts
index a28b6223d2fb..4f0d033f902a 100644
--- a/src/material/form-field/form-field-animations.ts
+++ b/src/material/form-field/form-field-animations.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ import {
 /**
  * Animations used by the MatFormField.
  * @docs-private
+ * @deprecated No longer used, will be removed.
+ * @breaking-change 21.0.0
  */
 export const matFormFieldAnimations: {
   readonly transitionMessages: AnimationTriggerMetadata;
diff --git a/src/material/form-field/form-field.html b/src/material/form-field/form-field.html
index 0c62f7ca809f..f1a46075b46b 100644
--- a/src/material/form-field/form-field.html
+++ b/src/material/form-field/form-field.html
@@ -101,16 +101,13 @@
 >
   @switch (_getDisplayedMessages()) {
     @case ('error') {
-      <div
-        class="mat-mdc-form-field-error-wrapper"
-        [@transitionMessages]="_subscriptAnimationState"
-      >
+      <div class="mat-mdc-form-field-error-wrapper">
         <ng-content select="mat-error, [matError]"></ng-content>
       </div>
     }
 
     @case ('hint') {
-      <div class="mat-mdc-form-field-hint-wrapper" [@transitionMessages]="_subscriptAnimationState">
+      <div class="mat-mdc-form-field-hint-wrapper">
         @if (hintLabel) {
           <mat-hint [id]="_hintLabelId">{{hintLabel}}</mat-hint>
         }
diff --git a/src/material/form-field/form-field.scss b/src/material/form-field/form-field.scss
index c2787b1a1427..0dcbe41561c1 100644
--- a/src/material/form-field/form-field.scss
+++ b/src/material/form-field/form-field.scss
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ $_icon-prefix-infix-padding: 4px;
 
 // In order to make it possible for developers to disable animations for form-fields,
 // we only activate the animation styles if animations are not explicitly disabled.
-.mat-mdc-form-field:not(.mat-form-field-no-animations) {
+.mat-mdc-form-field.mat-form-field-animations-enabled {
   @include mdc-text-field-structure.private-text-field-animations;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/material/form-field/form-field.ts b/src/material/form-field/form-field.ts
index 7e871d0bd2bb..0ea473c78d41 100644
--- a/src/material/form-field/form-field.ts
+++ b/src/material/form-field/form-field.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import {
   InjectionToken,
   Injector,
   Input,
+  NgZone,
   OnDestroy,
   QueryList,
   ViewChild,
@@ -49,7 +50,6 @@ import {MatFormFieldLineRipple} from './directives/line-ripple';
 import {MatFormFieldNotchedOutline} from './directives/notched-outline';
 import {MAT_PREFIX, MatPrefix} from './directives/prefix';
 import {MAT_SUFFIX, MatSuffix} from './directives/suffix';
-import {matFormFieldAnimations} from './form-field-animations';
 import {MatFormFieldControl as _MatFormFieldControl} from './form-field-control';
 import {
   getMatFormFieldDuplicatedHintError,
@@ -141,7 +141,6 @@ interface MatFormFieldControl<T> extends _MatFormFieldControl<T> {}
   exportAs: 'matFormField',
   templateUrl: './form-field.html',
   styleUrl: './form-field.css',
-  animations: [matFormFieldAnimations.transitionMessages],
   host: {
     'class': 'mat-mdc-form-field',
     '[class.mat-mdc-form-field-label-always-float]': '_shouldAlwaysFloat()',
@@ -153,7 +152,6 @@ interface MatFormFieldControl<T> extends _MatFormFieldControl<T> {}
     '[class.mat-form-field-invalid]': '_control.errorState',
     '[class.mat-form-field-disabled]': '_control.disabled',
     '[class.mat-form-field-autofilled]': '_control.autofilled',
-    '[class.mat-form-field-no-animations]': '_animationMode === "NoopAnimations"',
     '[class.mat-form-field-appearance-fill]': 'appearance == "fill"',
     '[class.mat-form-field-appearance-outline]': 'appearance == "outline"',
     '[class.mat-form-field-hide-placeholder]': '_hasFloatingLabel() && !_shouldLabelFloat()',
@@ -191,10 +189,11 @@ export class MatFormField
   private _dir = inject(Directionality);
   private _platform = inject(Platform);
   private _idGenerator = inject(_IdGenerator);
+  private _ngZone = inject(NgZone);
+  private _injector = inject(Injector);
   private _defaults = inject<MatFormFieldDefaultOptions>(MAT_FORM_FIELD_DEFAULT_OPTIONS, {
     optional: true,
   });
-  _animationMode = inject(ANIMATION_MODULE_TYPE, {optional: true});
 
   @ViewChild('textField') _textField: ElementRef<HTMLElement>;
   @ViewChild('iconPrefixContainer') _iconPrefixContainer: ElementRef<HTMLElement>;
@@ -310,9 +309,6 @@ export class MatFormField
   // Unique id for the hint label.
   readonly _hintLabelId = this._idGenerator.getId('mat-mdc-hint-');
 
-  /** State of the mat-hint and mat-error animations. */
-  _subscriptAnimationState = '';
-
   /** Gets the current form field control */
   get _control(): MatFormFieldControl<any> {
     return this._explicitFormFieldControl || this._formFieldControl;
@@ -329,8 +325,7 @@ export class MatFormField
   private _stateChanges: Subscription | undefined;
   private _valueChanges: Subscription | undefined;
   private _describedByChanges: Subscription | undefined;
-
-  private _injector = inject(Injector);
+  protected readonly _animationsDisabled: boolean;
 
   constructor(...args: unknown[]);
 
@@ -346,14 +341,24 @@ export class MatFormField
         this.color = defaults.color;
       }
     }
+
+    this._animationsDisabled = inject(ANIMATION_MODULE_TYPE, {optional: true}) === 'NoopAnimations';
   }
 
   ngAfterViewInit() {
     // Initial focus state sync. This happens rarely, but we want to account for
     // it in case the form field control has "focused" set to true on init.
     this._updateFocusState();
-    // Enable animations now. This ensures we don't animate on initial render.
-    this._subscriptAnimationState = 'enter';
+
+    if (!this._animationsDisabled) {
+      this._ngZone.runOutsideAngular(() => {
+        // Enable animations after a certain amount of time so that they don't run on init.
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          this._elementRef.nativeElement.classList.add('mat-form-field-animations-enabled');
+        }, 300);
+      });
+    }
+
     // Because the above changes a value used in the template after it was checked, we need
     // to trigger CD or the change might not be reflected if there is no other CD scheduled.
     this._changeDetectorRef.detectChanges();
diff --git a/src/material/input/input.spec.ts b/src/material/input/input.spec.ts
index 611cdc3320f2..3a778acbcee4 100644
--- a/src/material/input/input.spec.ts
+++ b/src/material/input/input.spec.ts
@@ -486,15 +486,6 @@ describe('MatMdcInput without forms', () => {
     expect(selectEl.disabled).toBe(true);
   }));
 
-  it('should add a class to the form-field if animations are disabled', () => {
-    configureTestingModule(MatInputWithId, {animations: false});
-    const fixture = TestBed.createComponent(MatInputWithId);
-    fixture.detectChanges();
-
-    const formFieldEl = fixture.nativeElement.querySelector('.mat-mdc-form-field');
-    expect(formFieldEl.classList).toContain('mat-form-field-no-animations');
-  });
-
   it('should add a class to the form field if it has a native select', fakeAsync(() => {
     const fixture = createComponent(MatInputSelect);
     fixture.detectChanges();
diff --git a/src/material/select/select.scss b/src/material/select/select.scss
index 2586a9f7b4a0..aeb1247b0f77 100644
--- a/src/material/select/select.scss
+++ b/src/material/select/select.scss
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ div.mat-mdc-select-panel {
     @include token-utils.create-token-slot(color, placeholder-text-color);
   }
 
-  .mat-form-field-no-animations &,
+  .mat-mdc-form-field:not(.mat-form-field-animations-enabled) &,
   ._mat-animation-noopable & {
     transition: none;
   }
diff --git a/tools/public_api_guard/material/form-field.md b/tools/public_api_guard/material/form-field.md
index f7efb046f473..539f205be870 100644
--- a/tools/public_api_guard/material/form-field.md
+++ b/tools/public_api_guard/material/form-field.md
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export class MatFormField implements FloatingLabelParent, AfterContentInit, Afte
     constructor(...args: unknown[]);
     _animateAndLockLabel(): void;
     // (undocumented)
-    _animationMode: "NoopAnimations" | "BrowserAnimations" | null;
+    protected readonly _animationsDisabled: boolean;
     get appearance(): MatFormFieldAppearance;
     set appearance(value: MatFormFieldAppearance);
     color: ThemePalette;
@@ -131,7 +131,6 @@ export class MatFormField implements FloatingLabelParent, AfterContentInit, Afte
     _shouldForward(prop: keyof AbstractControlDirective): boolean;
     // (undocumented)
     _shouldLabelFloat(): boolean;
-    _subscriptAnimationState: string;
     get subscriptSizing(): SubscriptSizing;
     set subscriptSizing(value: SubscriptSizing);
     // (undocumented)
@@ -148,7 +147,7 @@ export class MatFormField implements FloatingLabelParent, AfterContentInit, Afte
     static ɵfac: i0.ɵɵFactoryDeclaration<MatFormField, never>;
 }
 
-// @public
+// @public @deprecated
 export const matFormFieldAnimations: {
     readonly transitionMessages: AnimationTriggerMetadata;
 };