diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/menu-panel.hbs b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/menu-panel.hbs
index 9e77bac711d..e45928f73cb 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/menu-panel.hbs
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/menu-panel.hbs
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-<div class={{concat-class "menu-panel" @animationClass}} data-max-width="500">
+<div
+  class={{concat-class "search-menu-panel menu-panel" @animationClass}}
+  data-max-width="500"
+>
   <div class="panel-body">
     <div class="panel-body-contents">
       {{yield}}
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/site-header.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/site-header.js
index 160870f6d82..aa4ab35dc74 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/site-header.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/site-header.js
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import { isTesting } from "discourse-common/config/environment";
 import discourseLater from "discourse-common/lib/later";
 import { bind, observes } from "discourse-common/utils/decorators";
 
+let _menuPanelClassesToForceDropdown = [];
+
 const SiteHeaderComponent = MountWidget.extend(
   Docking,
   RerenderOnDoNotDisturbChange,
@@ -351,12 +353,17 @@ const SiteHeaderComponent = MountWidget.extend(
         return;
       }
 
-      const viewMode =
+      let viewMode =
         this.site.mobileView || this.site.narrowDesktopView
           ? "slide-in"
           : "drop-down";
 
       menuPanels.forEach((panel) => {
+        if (menuPanelContainsClass(panel)) {
+          viewMode = "drop-down";
+          this._animate = false;
+        }
+
         const headerCloak = document.querySelector(".header-cloak");
 
         panel.classList.remove("drop-down");
@@ -408,6 +415,31 @@ const SiteHeaderComponent = MountWidget.extend(
   }
 );
 
+function menuPanelContainsClass(menuPanel) {
+  if (!_menuPanelClassesToForceDropdown) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  // Check if any of the classNames are present in the node's classList
+  for (let className of _menuPanelClassesToForceDropdown) {
+    if (menuPanel.classList.contains(className)) {
+      // Found a matching class
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // No matching class found
+  return false;
+}
+
+export function forceDropdownForMenuPanels(classNames) {
+  // If classNames is a string, convert it to an array
+  if (typeof classNames === "string") {
+    classNames = [classNames];
+  }
+  return _menuPanelClassesToForceDropdown.push(...classNames);
+}
+
 export default SiteHeaderComponent.extend({
   classNames: ["d-header-wrap"],
   classNameBindings: ["site.mobileView::drop-down-mode"],
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/plugin-api.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/plugin-api.js
index 70af87b8690..a68c5b5b83a 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/plugin-api.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/plugin-api.js
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import {
 } from "discourse/components/search-menu/results/random-quick-tip";
 import { addOnKeyUpCallback } from "discourse/components/search-menu/search-term";
 import { REFRESH_COUNTS_APP_EVENT_NAME as REFRESH_USER_SIDEBAR_CATEGORIES_SECTION_COUNTS_APP_EVENT_NAME } from "discourse/components/sidebar/user/categories-section";
+import { forceDropdownForMenuPanels } from "discourse/components/site-header";
 import { addTopicTitleDecorator } from "discourse/components/topic-title";
 import { addUserMenuProfileTabItem } from "discourse/components/user-menu/profile-tab-content";
 import { addDiscoveryQueryParam } from "discourse/controllers/discovery/list";
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ import { modifySelectKit } from "select-kit/mixins/plugin-api";
 // docs/CHANGELOG-JAVASCRIPT-PLUGIN-API.md whenever you change the version
 // using the format described at https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/.
 
-export const PLUGIN_API_VERSION = "1.16.0";
+export const PLUGIN_API_VERSION = "1.17.0";
 
 // This helper prevents us from applying the same `modifyClass` over and over in test mode.
 function canModify(klass, type, resolverName, changes) {
@@ -1834,6 +1835,22 @@ class PluginApi {
     addGlimmerSearchSuggestion(value);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Force a given menu panel (search-menu, user-menu) to be displayed as dropdown if ANY of the passed `classNames` are included in the `classList` of a menu panel.
+   * This can be useful for plugins as the default behavior is to add a 'slide-in' behavior to a menu panel if you are viewing on a small screen. eg. mobile.
+   * Sometimes when we are rendering the menu panel in a non-standard way we don't want this behavior and want to force the menu panel to be displayed as a dropdown.
+   *
+   * The `classNames` param can be passed as a single string or an array of strings. This way you can disable the 'slide-in' behavior for multiple menu panels.
+   *
+   * ```
+   * api.forceDropdownForMenuPanels(["search-menu-panel", "user-menu"]);
+   * ```
+   *
+   */
+  forceDropdownForMenuPanels(classNames) {
+    forceDropdownForMenuPanels(classNames);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Download calendar modal which allow to pick between ICS and Google Calendar. Optionally, recurrence rule can be specified - https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5545#section-3.3.10
    *
diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG-JAVASCRIPT-PLUGIN-API.md b/docs/CHANGELOG-JAVASCRIPT-PLUGIN-API.md
index 0d651279dfe..e449599c7cf 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG-JAVASCRIPT-PLUGIN-API.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG-JAVASCRIPT-PLUGIN-API.md
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [1.17.0] - 2023-11-30
+
+### Added
+
+- Introduces `forceDropdownAnimationForMenuPanels` API for forcing one or many Menu Panels (search-menu, user-menu, etc) to be rendered as a dropdown. This can be useful for plugins as the default behavior is to add a 'slide-in' behavior to a menu panel if you are viewing on a small screen. eg. mobile.
+
 ## [1.16.0] - 2023-11-17
 
 ### Added