diff --git a/includes/UniversalLanguageSelectorHooks.php b/includes/UniversalLanguageSelectorHooks.php
index 62bf4746..73d6b4a3 100644
--- a/includes/UniversalLanguageSelectorHooks.php
+++ b/includes/UniversalLanguageSelectorHooks.php
@@ -102,15 +102,24 @@ class UniversalLanguageSelectorHooks {
 		if ( in_array( $skin->getSkinName(), $unsupportedSkins ) ) {
 			return;
 		}
-
 		// Soft dependency to Wikibase client. Don't enable CLL if links are managed manually.
 		$excludedLinks = $out->getProperty( 'noexternallanglinks' );
 		$override = is_array( $excludedLinks ) && in_array( '*', $excludedLinks );
 		$config = [
 			'wgULSPosition' => $wgULSPosition,
-			'wgULSCompactLinksEnabled' => !$override && self::isCompactLinksEnabled( $out->getUser() ),
 		];
 
+		// Load compact links if no mw-interlanguage-selector element is present in the page HTML.
+		// We use the same mechanism as Skin::getDefaultModules and check the HTML for the presence in the HTML,
+		// using the class as the heuristic.
+		// Note if the element is rendered by the skin, its assumed that no collapsing is needed.
+		// See T264824 for more information.
+		if ( !$override && self::isCompactLinksEnabled( $out->getUser() ) &&
+			strpos( $out->getHTML(), 'mw-interlanguage-selector' ) === false
+		) {
+			$out->addModules( 'ext.uls.compactlinks' );
+		}
+
 		if ( is_string( $wgULSGeoService ) ) {
 			$out->addModules( 'ext.uls.geoclient' );
 		}
diff --git a/resources/js/ext.uls.interface.js b/resources/js/ext.uls.interface.js
index 3cd82d75..04009a22 100644
--- a/resources/js/ext.uls.interface.js
+++ b/resources/js/ext.uls.interface.js
@@ -443,23 +443,6 @@
 		} );
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Compact the language list if necessary
-	 */
-	function compactLanguageLinksList() {
-		if (
-			// Allow skins to register their own button, in which case no need to compact
-			!document.querySelector( '.mw-interlanguage-selector' ) && (
-				// This line is for cached HTML where the JS config variable is not available
-				// it can be removed a week after this code has been in production.
-				mw.loader.getState( 'ext.uls.compactlinks' ) !== 'registered' ||
-				mw.config.get( 'wgULSCompactLinksEnabled' )
-			)
-		) {
-			mw.loader.using( 'ext.uls.compactlinks' );
-		}
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Event handler for the language button
 	 * @param {jQuery.Event} ev
@@ -494,7 +477,6 @@
 		initInterface();
 		initTooltip();
 		initIme();
-		compactLanguageLinksList();
 		initInterlanguageSelector();
 	}