diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 288d72a2762a..a17210a22c97 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Allow plugins from a parent document to be used in an iframe ([#12208](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/12208))
 - Add types for `tailwindcss/nesting` ([#12269](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/12269))
 - Bump `jiti`, `fast-glob`, and `browserlist` dependencies ([#11550](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/11550))
+- Improve automatic `var` injection for properties that accept a `<dashed-ident>` ([#12236](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/12236))
 
 ## [3.3.3] - 2023-07-13
 
diff --git a/src/lib/generateRules.js b/src/lib/generateRules.js
index 5fb6bfe0212d..69b6827733e7 100644
--- a/src/lib/generateRules.js
+++ b/src/lib/generateRules.js
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ function extractArbitraryProperty(classCandidate, context) {
     return null
   }
 
-  let normalized = normalize(value)
+  let normalized = normalize(value, { property })
 
   if (!isParsableCssValue(property, normalized)) {
     return null
diff --git a/src/util/dataTypes.js b/src/util/dataTypes.js
index 6a7f067a0d06..b427a1631ae9 100644
--- a/src/util/dataTypes.js
+++ b/src/util/dataTypes.js
@@ -10,10 +10,34 @@ function isCSSFunction(value) {
   return cssFunctions.some((fn) => new RegExp(`^${fn}\\(.*\\)`).test(value))
 }
 
+// These properties accept a `<dashed-ident>` as one of the values. This means that you can use them
+// as: `timeline-scope: --tl;`
+//
+// Without the `var(--tl)`, in these cases we don't want to normalize the value, and you should add
+// the `var()` yourself.
+//
+// More info:
+// - https://drafts.csswg.org/scroll-animations/#propdef-timeline-scope
+// - https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/timeline-scope#dashed-ident
+//
+const AUTO_VAR_INJECTION_EXCEPTIONS = new Set([
+  // Concrete properties
+  'scroll-timeline-name',
+  'timeline-scope',
+  'view-timeline-name',
+  'font-palette',
+
+  // Shorthand properties
+  'scroll-timeline',
+  'animation-timeline',
+  'view-timeline',
+])
+
 // This is not a data type, but rather a function that can normalize the
 // correct values.
-export function normalize(value, isRoot = true) {
-  if (value.startsWith('--')) {
+export function normalize(value, context = null, isRoot = true) {
+  let isVarException = context && AUTO_VAR_INJECTION_EXCEPTIONS.has(context.property)
+  if (value.startsWith('--') && !isVarException) {
     return `var(${value})`
   }
 
@@ -27,7 +51,7 @@ export function normalize(value, isRoot = true) {
           return part
         }
 
-        return normalize(part, false)
+        return normalize(part, context, false)
       })
       .join('')
   }
diff --git a/tests/normalize-data-types.test.js b/tests/normalize-data-types.test.js
index fa4267b45645..d3b52cfe726e 100644
--- a/tests/normalize-data-types.test.js
+++ b/tests/normalize-data-types.test.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { css, run } from './util/run'
 import { normalize } from '../src/util/dataTypes'
 import { crosscheck } from './util/run'
 
@@ -78,3 +79,31 @@ crosscheck(() => {
     expect(normalize(input)).toBe(output)
   })
 })
+
+it('should not automatically inject the `var()` for properties that accept `<dashed-ident>` as the value', () => {
+  let config = {
+    content: [
+      // Automatic var injection
+      { raw: '[color:--foo]' },
+
+      // Automatic var injection is skipped
+      { raw: '[timeline-scope:--foo]' },
+    ],
+  }
+
+  let input = css`
+    @tailwind utilities;
+  `
+
+  return run(input, config).then((result) => {
+    expect(result.css).toMatchFormattedCss(css`
+      .\[color\:--foo\] {
+        color: var(--foo);
+      }
+
+      .\[timeline-scope\:--foo\] {
+        timeline-scope: --foo;
+      }
+    `)
+  })
+})