diff --git a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/__init__.py b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/__init__.py
index bbf080920..efc4ade74 100644
--- a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/__init__.py
@@ -171,6 +171,28 @@ def update_config(app):
     ):
         app.config.fontawesome_included = True
 
+    # Handle icon link shortcuts
+    shortcuts = [
+        ("twitter_url", "fa-brands fa-square-twitter", "Twitter"),
+        ("bitbucket_url", "fa-brands fa-bitbucket", "Bitbucket"),
+        ("gitlab_url", "fa-brands fa-square-gitlab", "GitLab"),
+        ("github_url", "fa-brands fa-square-github", "GitHub"),
+    ]
+    # Add extra icon links entries if there were shortcuts present
+    # TODO: Deprecate this at some point in the future?
+    for url, icon, name in shortcuts:
+        if theme_options.get(url):
+            # This defaults to an empty list so we can always insert
+            theme_options["icon_links"].insert(
+                0,
+                {
+                    "url": theme_options.get(url),
+                    "icon": icon,
+                    "name": name,
+                    "type": "fontawesome",
+                },
+            )
+
     # Prepare the logo config dictionary
     theme_logo = theme_options.get("logo")
     if not theme_logo:
@@ -720,7 +742,6 @@ def soup_to_python(soup, only_pages=False):
     #       ...
 
     def extract_level_recursive(ul, navs_list):
-
         for li in ul.find_all("li", recursive=False):
             ref = li.a
             url = ref["href"]
diff --git a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/theme/pydata_sphinx_theme/components/icon-links.html b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/theme/pydata_sphinx_theme/components/icon-links.html
index 467b981d5..78c595b9e 100644
--- a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/theme/pydata_sphinx_theme/components/icon-links.html
+++ b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/theme/pydata_sphinx_theme/components/icon-links.html
@@ -25,15 +25,11 @@
         </li>
   {%- endif -%}
 {%- endmacro -%}
+{%- if theme_icon_links -%}
 <ul class="navbar-icon-links navbar-nav"
     aria-label="{{ theme_icon_links_label }}">
-  {%- block icon_link_shortcuts -%}
-    {{ icon_link_nav_item(theme_github_url, "fa-brands fa-square-github", _("GitHub"), "fontawesome") -}}
-    {{ icon_link_nav_item(theme_gitlab_url, "fa-brands fa-square-gitlab", _("GitLab"), "fontawesome") -}}
-    {{ icon_link_nav_item(theme_bitbucket_url, "fa-brands fa-bitbucket", _("Bitbucket"), "fontawesome") -}}
-    {{ icon_link_nav_item(theme_twitter_url, "fa-brands fa-square-twitter", _("Twitter"), "fontawesome") -}}
-  {% endblock icon_link_shortcuts -%}
   {%- for icon_link in theme_icon_links -%}
     {{ icon_link_nav_item(icon_link["url"], icon_link["icon"], icon_link["name"], icon_link.get("type", "fontawesome"), icon_link.get("attributes", {})) -}}
   {%- endfor %}
 </ul>
+{%- endif -%}
diff --git a/tests/check_warnings.py b/tests/check_warnings.py
index 90df68478..1b08eb5b7 100644
--- a/tests/check_warnings.py
+++ b/tests/check_warnings.py
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ def check_warnings(file):
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-
     # cast the file to path and resolve to an absolute one
     file = Path.cwd() / "warnings.txt"
 
diff --git a/tests/test_build.py b/tests/test_build.py
index dff676d70..c97193648 100644
--- a/tests/test_build.py
+++ b/tests/test_build.py
@@ -918,10 +918,17 @@ def test_empty_templates(sphinx_build_factory):
     """If a template is empty (e.g., via a config), it should be removed."""
     # When configured to be gone, the template should be removed w/ its parent.
     # ABlog needs to be added so we can test that template rendering works w/ it.
-    confoverrides = {"html_show_sourcelink": False}
+    confoverrides = {
+        "html_show_sourcelink": False,
+    }
     sphinx_build = sphinx_build_factory("base", confoverrides=confoverrides).build()
-    toc_items = sphinx_build.html_tree("page1.html").select(".toc-item")
-    assert not any(ii.select(".tocsection.sourcelink") for ii in toc_items)
+    html = sphinx_build.html_tree("page1.html")
+
+    # We've set this to fase in the config so the template shouldn't show up at all
+    assert not html.select(".tocsection.sourcelink")
+
+    # Should not be any icon link wrapper because none are given in conf
+    assert not html.select(".navbar-icon-links")
 
 
 def test_translations(sphinx_build_factory):
diff --git a/tests/test_build/sidebar_subpage.html b/tests/test_build/sidebar_subpage.html
index 1fffac84c..17bbffa91 100644
--- a/tests/test_build/sidebar_subpage.html
+++ b/tests/test_build/sidebar_subpage.html
@@ -46,10 +46,6 @@
 `);
     </script>
    </div>
-   <div class="navbar-item">
-    <ul aria-label="Icon Links" class="navbar-icon-links navbar-nav">
-    </ul>
-   </div>
   </div>
  </div>
  <div class="sidebar-primary-items__start sidebar-primary__section">