diff --git a/doc/api/backend_registry_api.rst b/doc/api/backend_registry_api.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ca184c67d0a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/backend_registry_api.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+********************************
+``matplotlib.backends.registry``
+********************************
+
+.. automodule:: matplotlib.backends.registry
+   :members:
+   :undoc-members:
+   :show-inheritance:
diff --git a/doc/api/index_backend_api.rst b/doc/api/index_backend_api.rst
index 6012f71c52a4..66009d86825d 100644
--- a/doc/api/index_backend_api.rst
+++ b/doc/api/index_backend_api.rst
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
    backend_pdf_api.rst
    backend_pgf_api.rst
    backend_ps_api.rst
+   backend_registry_api.rst
    backend_qt_api.rst
    backend_svg_api.rst
    backend_tk_api.rst
diff --git a/doc/api/next_api_changes/deprecations/27719-IT.rst b/doc/api/next_api_changes/deprecations/27719-IT.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c41e9d2c396f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/next_api_changes/deprecations/27719-IT.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+``rcsetup.interactive_bk``, ``rcsetup.non_interactive_bk`` and ``rcsetup.all_backends``
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+... are deprecated and replaced by ``matplotlib.backends.backend_registry.list_builtin``
+with the following arguments
+
+- ``matplotlib.backends.BackendFilter.INTERACTIVE``
+- ``matplotlib.backends.BackendFilter.NON_INTERACTIVE``
+- ``None``
+
+respectively.
diff --git a/doc/users/next_whats_new/backend_registry.rst b/doc/users/next_whats_new/backend_registry.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..61b65a9d6470
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/users/next_whats_new/backend_registry.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+BackendRegistry
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+New :class:`~matplotlib.backends.registry.BackendRegistry` class is the single
+source of truth for available backends. The singleton instance is
+``matplotlib.backends.backend_registry``.
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
index a353500f8725..a1e7eb4f3ffc 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
@@ -93,32 +93,6 @@
 }
 
 
-def _safe_pyplot_import():
-    """
-    Import and return ``pyplot``, correctly setting the backend if one is
-    already forced.
-    """
-    try:
-        import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-    except ImportError:  # Likely due to a framework mismatch.
-        current_framework = cbook._get_running_interactive_framework()
-        if current_framework is None:
-            raise  # No, something else went wrong, likely with the install...
-        backend_mapping = {
-            'qt': 'qtagg',
-            'gtk3': 'gtk3agg',
-            'gtk4': 'gtk4agg',
-            'wx': 'wxagg',
-            'tk': 'tkagg',
-            'macosx': 'macosx',
-            'headless': 'agg',
-        }
-        backend = backend_mapping[current_framework]
-        rcParams["backend"] = mpl.rcParamsOrig["backend"] = backend
-        import matplotlib.pyplot as plt  # Now this should succeed.
-    return plt
-
-
 def register_backend(format, backend, description=None):
     """
     Register a backend for saving to a given file format.
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/__init__.py
index 3e687f85b0be..cf0f682d5d4b 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from .registry import BackendFilter, backend_registry  # noqa: F401
+
 # NOTE: plt.switch_backend() (called at import time) will add a "backend"
 # attribute here for backcompat.
 _QT_FORCE_QT5_BINDING = False
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/meson.build b/lib/matplotlib/backends/meson.build
index 050cc616b42c..1e3e47c0a915 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/meson.build
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/meson.build
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ python_sources = [
   'backend_wxagg.py',
   'backend_wxcairo.py',
   'qt_compat.py',
+  'registry.py',
 ]
 
 typing_sources = [
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/registry.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/registry.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..484d6ed5f26d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/registry.py
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+from enum import Enum
+
+
+class BackendFilter(Enum):
+    """
+    Filter used with :meth:`~matplotlib.backends.registry.BackendRegistry.list_builtin`
+
+    .. versionadded:: 3.9
+    """
+    INTERACTIVE = 0
+    NON_INTERACTIVE = 1
+
+
+class BackendRegistry:
+    """
+    Registry of backends available within Matplotlib.
+
+    This is the single source of truth for available backends.
+
+    All use of ``BackendRegistry`` should be via the singleton instance
+    ``backend_registry`` which can be imported from ``matplotlib.backends``.
+
+    .. versionadded:: 3.9
+    """
+    # Built-in backends are those which are included in the Matplotlib repo.
+    # A backend with name 'name' is located in the module
+    # f'matplotlib.backends.backend_{name.lower()}'
+
+    # The capitalized forms are needed for ipython at present; this may
+    # change for later versions.
+    _BUILTIN_INTERACTIVE = [
+        "GTK3Agg", "GTK3Cairo", "GTK4Agg", "GTK4Cairo",
+        "MacOSX",
+        "nbAgg",
+        "QtAgg", "QtCairo", "Qt5Agg", "Qt5Cairo",
+        "TkAgg", "TkCairo",
+        "WebAgg",
+        "WX", "WXAgg", "WXCairo",
+    ]
+    _BUILTIN_NOT_INTERACTIVE = [
+        "agg", "cairo", "pdf", "pgf", "ps", "svg", "template",
+    ]
+    _GUI_FRAMEWORK_TO_BACKEND_MAPPING = {
+        "qt": "qtagg",
+        "gtk3": "gtk3agg",
+        "gtk4": "gtk4agg",
+        "wx": "wxagg",
+        "tk": "tkagg",
+        "macosx": "macosx",
+        "headless": "agg",
+    }
+
+    def backend_for_gui_framework(self, framework):
+        """
+        Return the name of the backend corresponding to the specified GUI framework.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        framework : str
+            GUI framework such as "qt".
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        str
+            Backend name.
+        """
+        return self._GUI_FRAMEWORK_TO_BACKEND_MAPPING.get(framework)
+
+    def list_builtin(self, filter_=None):
+        """
+        Return list of backends that are built into Matplotlib.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        filter_ : `~.BackendFilter`, optional
+            Filter to apply to returned backends. For example, to return only
+            non-interactive backends use `.BackendFilter.NON_INTERACTIVE`.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        list of str
+            Backend names.
+        """
+        if filter_ == BackendFilter.INTERACTIVE:
+            return self._BUILTIN_INTERACTIVE
+        elif filter_ == BackendFilter.NON_INTERACTIVE:
+            return self._BUILTIN_NOT_INTERACTIVE
+
+        return self._BUILTIN_INTERACTIVE + self._BUILTIN_NOT_INTERACTIVE
+
+
+# Singleton
+backend_registry = BackendRegistry()
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/registry.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/backends/registry.pyi
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e48531be471d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/registry.pyi
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+from enum import Enum
+
+
+class BackendFilter(Enum):
+    INTERACTIVE: int
+    NON_INTERACTIVE: int
+
+
+class BackendRegistry:
+    def backend_for_gui_framework(self, interactive_framework: str) -> str | None: ...
+    def list_builtin(self, filter_: BackendFilter | None) -> list[str]: ...
+
+
+backend_registry: BackendRegistry
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
index 2cf0d5325a63..778a9e132d43 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
 from matplotlib.artist import Artist
 from matplotlib.axes import Axes
 from matplotlib.axes import Subplot  # noqa: F401
+from matplotlib.backends import BackendFilter, backend_registry
 from matplotlib.projections import PolarAxes
 from matplotlib import mlab  # for detrend_none, window_hanning
 from matplotlib.scale import get_scale_names  # noqa: F401
@@ -301,16 +302,11 @@ def switch_backend(newbackend: str) -> None:
 
     if newbackend is rcsetup._auto_backend_sentinel:
         current_framework = cbook._get_running_interactive_framework()
-        mapping = {'qt': 'qtagg',
-                   'gtk3': 'gtk3agg',
-                   'gtk4': 'gtk4agg',
-                   'wx': 'wxagg',
-                   'tk': 'tkagg',
-                   'macosx': 'macosx',
-                   'headless': 'agg'}
-
-        if current_framework in mapping:
-            candidates = [mapping[current_framework]]
+
+        if (current_framework and
+                (backend := backend_registry.backend_for_gui_framework(
+                    current_framework))):
+            candidates = [backend]
         else:
             candidates = []
         candidates += [
@@ -2510,7 +2506,8 @@ def polar(*args, **kwargs) -> list[Line2D]:
 # is compatible with the current running interactive framework.
 if (rcParams["backend_fallback"]
         and rcParams._get_backend_or_none() in (  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
-            set(rcsetup.interactive_bk) - {'WebAgg', 'nbAgg'})
+            set(backend_registry.list_builtin(BackendFilter.INTERACTIVE)) -
+            {'WebAgg', 'nbAgg'})
         and cbook._get_running_interactive_framework()):
     rcParams._set("backend", rcsetup._auto_backend_sentinel)
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py b/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
index f730db0dee3b..6abc8372222d 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 
 from matplotlib import _api, cbook
+from matplotlib.backends import BackendFilter, backend_registry
 from matplotlib.cbook import ls_mapper
 from matplotlib.colors import Colormap, is_color_like
 from matplotlib._fontconfig_pattern import parse_fontconfig_pattern
@@ -32,20 +33,30 @@
 from cycler import Cycler, cycler as ccycler
 
 
-# The capitalized forms are needed for ipython at present; this may
-# change for later versions.
-interactive_bk = [
-    'GTK3Agg', 'GTK3Cairo', 'GTK4Agg', 'GTK4Cairo',
-    'MacOSX',
-    'nbAgg',
-    'QtAgg', 'QtCairo', 'Qt5Agg', 'Qt5Cairo',
-    'TkAgg', 'TkCairo',
-    'WebAgg',
-    'WX', 'WXAgg', 'WXCairo',
-]
-non_interactive_bk = ['agg', 'cairo',
-                      'pdf', 'pgf', 'ps', 'svg', 'template']
-all_backends = interactive_bk + non_interactive_bk
+@_api.caching_module_getattr
+class __getattr__:
+    @_api.deprecated(
+        "3.9",
+        alternative="``matplotlib.backends.backend_registry.list_builtin"
+            "(matplotlib.backends.BackendFilter.INTERACTIVE)``")
+    @property
+    def interactive_bk(self):
+        return backend_registry.list_builtin(BackendFilter.INTERACTIVE)
+
+    @_api.deprecated(
+        "3.9",
+        alternative="``matplotlib.backends.backend_registry.list_builtin"
+            "(matplotlib.backends.BackendFilter.NON_INTERACTIVE)``")
+    @property
+    def non_interactive_bk(self):
+        return backend_registry.list_builtin(BackendFilter.NON_INTERACTIVE)
+
+    @_api.deprecated(
+        "3.9",
+        alternative="``matplotlib.backends.backend_registry.list_builtin()``")
+    @property
+    def all_backends(self):
+        return backend_registry.list_builtin()
 
 
 class ValidateInStrings:
@@ -256,7 +267,7 @@ def validate_fonttype(s):
 
 
 _validate_standard_backends = ValidateInStrings(
-    'backend', all_backends, ignorecase=True)
+    'backend', backend_registry.list_builtin(), ignorecase=True)
 _auto_backend_sentinel = object()
 
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_registry.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_registry.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aed258f36413
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_registry.py
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+from collections.abc import Sequence
+from typing import Any
+
+import pytest
+
+import matplotlib as mpl
+from matplotlib.backends import BackendFilter, backend_registry
+
+
+def has_duplicates(seq: Sequence[Any]) -> bool:
+    return len(seq) > len(set(seq))
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    'framework,expected',
+    [
+        ('qt', 'qtagg'),
+        ('gtk3', 'gtk3agg'),
+        ('gtk4', 'gtk4agg'),
+        ('wx', 'wxagg'),
+        ('tk', 'tkagg'),
+        ('macosx', 'macosx'),
+        ('headless', 'agg'),
+        ('does not exist', None),
+    ]
+)
+def test_backend_for_gui_framework(framework, expected):
+    assert backend_registry.backend_for_gui_framework(framework) == expected
+
+
+def test_list_builtin():
+    backends = backend_registry.list_builtin()
+    assert not has_duplicates(backends)
+    # Compare using sets as order is not important
+    assert {*backends} == {
+        'GTK3Agg', 'GTK3Cairo', 'GTK4Agg', 'GTK4Cairo', 'MacOSX', 'nbAgg', 'QtAgg',
+        'QtCairo', 'Qt5Agg', 'Qt5Cairo', 'TkAgg', 'TkCairo', 'WebAgg', 'WX', 'WXAgg',
+        'WXCairo', 'agg', 'cairo', 'pdf', 'pgf', 'ps', 'svg', 'template',
+    }
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    'filter,expected',
+    [
+        (BackendFilter.INTERACTIVE,
+         ['GTK3Agg', 'GTK3Cairo', 'GTK4Agg', 'GTK4Cairo', 'MacOSX', 'nbAgg', 'QtAgg',
+          'QtCairo', 'Qt5Agg', 'Qt5Cairo', 'TkAgg', 'TkCairo', 'WebAgg', 'WX', 'WXAgg',
+           'WXCairo']),
+        (BackendFilter.NON_INTERACTIVE,
+         ['agg', 'cairo', 'pdf', 'pgf', 'ps', 'svg', 'template']),
+    ]
+)
+def test_list_builtin_with_filter(filter, expected):
+    backends = backend_registry.list_builtin(filter)
+    assert not has_duplicates(backends)
+    # Compare using sets as order is not important
+    assert {*backends} == {*expected}
+
+
+def test_deprecated_rcsetup_attributes():
+    match = "was deprecated in Matplotlib 3.9"
+    with pytest.warns(mpl.MatplotlibDeprecationWarning, match=match):
+        mpl.rcsetup.interactive_bk
+    with pytest.warns(mpl.MatplotlibDeprecationWarning, match=match):
+        mpl.rcsetup.non_interactive_bk
+    with pytest.warns(mpl.MatplotlibDeprecationWarning, match=match):
+        mpl.rcsetup.all_backends
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_matplotlib.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_matplotlib.py
index a1aa4ec212d6..a2f467ac48de 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_matplotlib.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_matplotlib.py
@@ -57,10 +57,12 @@ def parse(key):
             backends += [e.strip() for e in line.split(',') if e]
         return backends
 
+    from matplotlib.backends import BackendFilter, backend_registry
+
     assert (set(parse('- interactive backends:\n')) ==
-            set(matplotlib.rcsetup.interactive_bk))
+            set(backend_registry.list_builtin(BackendFilter.INTERACTIVE)))
     assert (set(parse('- non-interactive backends:\n')) ==
-            set(matplotlib.rcsetup.non_interactive_bk))
+            set(backend_registry.list_builtin(BackendFilter.NON_INTERACTIVE)))
 
 
 def test_importable_with__OO():