diff --git a/packages/gatsby-plugin-image/src/components/lazy-hydrate.tsx b/packages/gatsby-plugin-image/src/components/lazy-hydrate.tsx
index e539968c0e12c..f7ac08d8e5979 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-plugin-image/src/components/lazy-hydrate.tsx
+++ b/packages/gatsby-plugin-image/src/components/lazy-hydrate.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import React, { MutableRefObject } from "react"
-import { hydrate, render } from "react-dom"
+// @ts-ignore - react 18 has createRoot
+import { hydrate, render, createRoot } from "react-dom"
 import { GatsbyImageProps } from "./gatsby-image.browser"
 import { LayoutWrapper } from "./layout-wrapper"
 import { Placeholder } from "./placeholder"
@@ -87,14 +88,29 @@ export function lazyHydrate(
 
   if (root.current) {
     // Force render to mitigate "Expected server HTML to contain a matching" in develop
-    const doRender = hydrated.current || forceHydrate.current ? render : hydrate
-    doRender(component, root.current)
-    hydrated.current = true
+    if (createRoot) {
+      if (!hydrated.current) {
+        hydrated.current = createRoot(root.current)
+      }
+
+      // @ts-ignore react 18 typings
+      hydrated.current.render(component)
+    } else {
+      const doRender =
+        hydrated.current || forceHydrate.current ? render : hydrate
+      doRender(component, root.current)
+      hydrated.current = true
+    }
   }
 
   return (): void => {
     if (root.current) {
-      render((null as unknown) as ReactElement, root.current)
+      if (createRoot) {
+        // @ts-ignore react 18 typings
+        hydrated.current.render(null)
+      } else {
+        render((null as unknown) as ReactElement, root.current)
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/app.js b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/app.js
index fb1a9d7070d31..dfd7cae909877 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/app.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/app.js
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ apiRunnerAsync(`onClientEntry`).then(() => {
         document.body.append(indicatorMountElement)
 
         if (renderer === ReactDOM.hydrateRoot) {
-          renderer(indicatorMountElement).render(
+          ReactDOM.createRoot(indicatorMountElement).render(
             <LoadingIndicatorEventHandler />
           )
         } else {