diff --git a/gsk/gpu/gskgpunodeprocessor.c b/gsk/gpu/gskgpunodeprocessor.c
index a3db26d5ae..7deb928d4b 100644
--- a/gsk/gpu/gskgpunodeprocessor.c
+++ b/gsk/gpu/gskgpunodeprocessor.c
@@ -384,7 +384,8 @@ gsk_gpu_node_processor_process (GskGpuFrame                 *frame,
                                clip,
                                viewport);
 
-  if (!gsk_gpu_node_processor_add_first_node (&self,
+  if (!gsk_gpu_frame_should_optimize (frame, GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_OCCLUSION_CULLING) ||
+      !gsk_gpu_node_processor_add_first_node (&self,
                                               target,
                                               clip,
                                               GSK_RENDER_PASS_PRESENT,
diff --git a/gsk/gpu/gskgpurenderer.c b/gsk/gpu/gskgpurenderer.c
index 999ab9966d..132c843fa1 100644
--- a/gsk/gpu/gskgpurenderer.c
+++ b/gsk/gpu/gskgpurenderer.c
@@ -24,12 +24,13 @@
 #define GSK_GPU_MAX_FRAMES 4
 
 static const GdkDebugKey gsk_gpu_optimization_keys[] = {
-  { "clear", GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_CLEAR, "Use shaders instead of vkCmdClearAttachment()/glClear()" },
-  { "merge", GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_MERGE, "Use one vkCmdDraw()/glDrawArrays() per operation" },
-  { "blit", GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_BLIT, "Use shaders instead of vkCmdBlit()/glBlitFramebuffer()" },
-  { "gradients", GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_GRADIENTS, "Don't supersample gradients" },
-  { "mipmap", GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_MIPMAP, "Avoid creating mipmaps" },
-  { "to-image", GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_TO_IMAGE, "Don't fast-path creation of images for nodes" },
+  { "clear",     GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_CLEAR,             "Use shaders instead of vkCmdClearAttachment()/glClear()" },
+  { "merge",     GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_MERGE,             "Use one vkCmdDraw()/glDrawArrays() per operation" },
+  { "blit",      GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_BLIT,              "Use shaders instead of vkCmdBlit()/glBlitFramebuffer()" },
+  { "gradients", GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_GRADIENTS,         "Don't supersample gradients" },
+  { "mipmap",    GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_MIPMAP,            "Avoid creating mipmaps" },
+  { "to-image",  GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_TO_IMAGE,          "Don't fast-path creation of images for nodes" },
+  { "occlusion", GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_OCCLUSION_CULLING, "Disable occlusion culling via opaque node tracking" },
 };
 
 typedef struct _GskGpuRendererPrivate GskGpuRendererPrivate;
diff --git a/gsk/gpu/gskgputypesprivate.h b/gsk/gpu/gskgputypesprivate.h
index c7ead752d2..bac2903b77 100644
--- a/gsk/gpu/gskgputypesprivate.h
+++ b/gsk/gpu/gskgputypesprivate.h
@@ -119,5 +119,6 @@ typedef enum {
   GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_GRADIENTS            = 1 <<  3,
   GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_MIPMAP               = 1 <<  4,
   GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_TO_IMAGE             = 1 <<  5,
+  GSK_GPU_OPTIMIZE_OCCLUSION_CULLING    = 1 <<  6,
 } GskGpuOptimizations;