diff --git a/gdk/gdk.c b/gdk/gdk.c
index b3a569d34d..c6b5b7b8ce 100644
--- a/gdk/gdk.c
+++ b/gdk/gdk.c
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ static const GdkDebugKey gdk_debug_keys[] = {
   { "gl-legacy",       GDK_DEBUG_GL_LEGACY, "Use a legacy OpenGL context" },
   { "gl-gles",         GDK_DEBUG_GL_GLES, "Use a GLES OpenGL context" },
   { "gl-debug",        GDK_DEBUG_GL_DEBUG, "Insert debugging information in OpenGL" },
+  { "gl-egl",          GDK_DEBUG_GL_EGL, "Use EGL on X11" },
   { "gl-glx",          GDK_DEBUG_GL_GLX, "Use GLX on X11" },
   { "vulkan-disable",  GDK_DEBUG_VULKAN_DISABLE, "Disable Vulkan support" },
   { "vulkan-validate", GDK_DEBUG_VULKAN_VALIDATE, "Load the Vulkan validation layer" },
diff --git a/gdk/gdkdebug.h b/gdk/gdkdebug.h
index e03b904ce4..111cc2f28a 100644
--- a/gdk/gdkdebug.h
+++ b/gdk/gdkdebug.h
@@ -41,10 +41,11 @@ typedef enum {
   GDK_DEBUG_GL_LEGACY       = 1 << 15,
   GDK_DEBUG_GL_GLES         = 1 << 16,
   GDK_DEBUG_GL_DEBUG        = 1 << 17,
-  GDK_DEBUG_GL_GLX          = 1 << 18,
-  GDK_DEBUG_VULKAN_DISABLE  = 1 << 19,
-  GDK_DEBUG_VULKAN_VALIDATE = 1 << 20,
-  GDK_DEBUG_DEFAULT_SETTINGS= 1 << 21
+  GDK_DEBUG_GL_EGL          = 1 << 18,
+  GDK_DEBUG_GL_GLX          = 1 << 19,
+  GDK_DEBUG_VULKAN_DISABLE  = 1 << 20,
+  GDK_DEBUG_VULKAN_VALIDATE = 1 << 21,
+  GDK_DEBUG_DEFAULT_SETTINGS= 1 << 22
 } GdkDebugFlags;
 
 extern guint _gdk_debug_flags;
diff --git a/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-egl.c b/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-egl.c
index 3df0919738..56a17168b1 100644
--- a/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-egl.c
+++ b/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-egl.c
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ visual_is_rgba (XVisualInfo *visinfo)
 
 static gboolean
 gdk_x11_display_create_egl_config (GdkX11Display  *display,
+                                   gboolean        force,
                                    Visual        **out_visual,
                                    int            *out_depth,
                                    GError        **error)
@@ -263,6 +264,13 @@ gdk_x11_display_create_egl_config (GdkX11Display  *display,
                            _("No EGL configuration with required features found"));
       return FALSE;
     }
+  else if (!force && best_features != PERFECT)
+    {
+      g_set_error_literal (error, GDK_GL_ERROR,
+                           GDK_GL_ERROR_NOT_AVAILABLE,
+                           _("No perfect EGL configuration found"));
+      return FALSE;
+    }
 
   return TRUE;
 }
@@ -589,6 +597,7 @@ gdk_x11_gl_context_egl_init (GdkX11GLContextEGL *self)
 
 gboolean
 gdk_x11_display_init_egl (GdkX11Display  *self,
+                          gboolean        force,
                           Visual        **out_visual,
                           int            *out_depth,
                           GError        **error)
@@ -625,7 +634,7 @@ gdk_x11_display_init_egl (GdkX11Display  *self,
       return FALSE;
     }
 
-  if (!gdk_x11_display_create_egl_config (self, out_visual, out_depth, error))
+  if (!gdk_x11_display_create_egl_config (self, force, out_visual, out_depth, error))
     {
       eglTerminate (self->egl_display);
       self->egl_display = NULL;
diff --git a/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-x11.c b/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-x11.c
index 389faf6292..c74a994c70 100644
--- a/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-x11.c
+++ b/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-x11.c
@@ -109,8 +109,6 @@ gdk_x11_display_init_gl (GdkX11Display  *self,
                          GError        **error)
 {
   GdkDisplay *display G_GNUC_UNUSED = GDK_DISPLAY (self);
-  GError *egl_error = NULL;
-  GError *glx_error = NULL;
 
   if (GDK_DISPLAY_DEBUG_CHECK (display, GL_DISABLE))
     {
@@ -120,27 +118,30 @@ gdk_x11_display_init_gl (GdkX11Display  *self,
       return FALSE;
     }
 
-  if (!GDK_DISPLAY_DEBUG_CHECK (display, GL_GLX))
-    {
-      /* We favour EGL */
-      if (gdk_x11_display_init_egl (self, out_visual, out_depth, &egl_error))
-        return TRUE;
-    }
+  if (GDK_DISPLAY_DEBUG_CHECK (display, GL_EGL))
+    return gdk_x11_display_init_egl (self, TRUE, out_visual, out_depth, error);
+  if (GDK_DISPLAY_DEBUG_CHECK (display, GL_GLX))
+    return gdk_x11_display_init_glx (self, out_visual, out_depth, error);
 
-  if (gdk_x11_display_init_glx (self, out_visual, out_depth, &glx_error))
-    {
-      g_clear_error (&egl_error);
-      return TRUE;
-    }
+  /* No env vars set, do the regular GL initialization.
+   * 
+   * We try EGL first, but are very picky about what we accept.
+   * If that fails, we try to go with GLX instead.
+   * And if that also fails, we try EGL again, but this time accept anything.
+   *
+   * The idea here is that EGL is the preferred method going forward, but GLX is
+   * the tried and tested method that we know works. So if we detect issues with
+   * EGL, we want to avoid using it in favor of GLX.
+   */
 
-  if (egl_error)
-    {
-      *error = egl_error;
-      g_clear_error (&glx_error);
-    }
-  else
-    *error = glx_error;
+  if (gdk_x11_display_init_egl (self, FALSE, out_visual, out_depth, error))
+    return TRUE;
+  g_clear_error (error);
 
-  return FALSE;
+  if (gdk_x11_display_init_glx (self, out_visual, out_depth, error))
+    return TRUE;
+  g_clear_error (error);
+
+  return gdk_x11_display_init_egl (self, TRUE, out_visual, out_depth, error);
 }
 
diff --git a/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-x11.h b/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-x11.h
index 1aa7fbe545..5cc2ebf5d6 100644
--- a/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-x11.h
+++ b/gdk/x11/gdkglcontext-x11.h
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ gboolean                gdk_x11_gl_context_glx_make_current     (GdkDisplay    *
 typedef struct _GdkX11GLContextEGL      GdkX11GLContextEGL;
 
 gboolean                gdk_x11_display_init_egl                (GdkX11Display *display_x11,
+                                                                 gboolean       force,
                                                                  Visual       **out_visual,
                                                                  int           *out_depth,
                                                                  GError       **error);