diff --git a/config/tsconfig.base.json b/config/tsconfig.base.json
index 10e27a3f75..f1e6d61a4c 100644
--- a/config/tsconfig.base.json
+++ b/config/tsconfig.base.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-    "version": "3.2.4",
+    "version": "3.5.3",
     "compilerOptions": {
         "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,
         "declaration": true,
diff --git a/packages/core/package.json b/packages/core/package.json
index 4af25e2b9e..4cba9a6f4a 100644
--- a/packages/core/package.json
+++ b/packages/core/package.json
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@
   "unpkg": "dist/core.bundle.js",
   "sideEffects": [
     "*.css",
-    "lib/esm/components/index.js",
-    "lib/esnext/components/index.js",
-    "lib/cjs/components/index.js"
+    "lib/esm/common/configureDom4.js",
+    "lib/esnext/common/configureDom4.js",
+    "lib/cjs/common/configureDom4.js"
   ],
   "bin": {
     "upgrade-blueprint-2.0.0-rename": "./scripts/upgrade-blueprint-2.0.0-rename.sh",
diff --git a/packages/core/src/common/configureDom4.ts b/packages/core/src/common/configureDom4.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f8f6651951
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/common/configureDom4.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2019 Palantir Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+if (typeof require !== "undefined" && typeof window !== "undefined" && typeof document !== "undefined") {
+    // we're in browser
+    // tslint:disable-next-line:no-var-requires
+    require("dom4"); // only import actual dom4 if we're in the browser (not server-compatible)
+    // we'll still need dom4 types for the TypeScript to compile, these are included in package.json
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/src/common/utils/isDarkTheme.ts b/packages/core/src/common/utils/isDarkTheme.ts
index c819c4fcd6..b4467c35ca 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/common/utils/isDarkTheme.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/common/utils/isDarkTheme.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import "../configureDom4";
+
 import { Classes } from "../";
 
 export function isDarkTheme(element: Element | Text | null): boolean {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/components/index.ts b/packages/core/src/components/index.ts
index 1bbd4ff45a..d3b7d89207 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/components/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/components/index.ts
@@ -14,13 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-declare function require(moduleName: string): any; // declare node.js "require" so that we can conditionally import
-if (typeof window !== "undefined" && typeof document !== "undefined") {
-    // we're in browser
-    // tslint:disable-next-line:no-var-requires
-    require("dom4"); // only import actual dom4 if we're in the browser (not server-compatible)
-    // we'll still need dom4 types for the TypeScript to compile, these are included in package.json
-}
+import "../common/configureDom4";
 
 import * as contextMenu from "./context-menu/contextMenu";
 export const ContextMenu = contextMenu;