diff --git a/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor-gbm.c b/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor-gbm.c
index 0a76b60a2..802e0f65d 100644
--- a/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor-gbm.c
+++ b/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor-gbm.c
@@ -1117,5 +1117,6 @@ xwl_glamor_init_gbm(struct xwl_screen *xwl_screen)
     xwl_screen->gbm_backend.get_wl_buffer_for_pixmap = xwl_glamor_gbm_get_wl_buffer_for_pixmap;
     xwl_screen->gbm_backend.is_available = TRUE;
     xwl_screen->gbm_backend.backend_flags = XWL_EGL_BACKEND_HAS_PRESENT_FLIP |
-                                            XWL_EGL_BACKEND_NEEDS_BUFFER_FLUSH;
+                                            XWL_EGL_BACKEND_NEEDS_BUFFER_FLUSH |
+                                            XWL_EGL_BACKEND_NEEDS_N_BUFFERING;
 }
diff --git a/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor.c b/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor.c
index 3c439f304..9dc7b9b92 100644
--- a/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor.c
+++ b/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor.c
@@ -196,6 +196,17 @@ xwl_glamor_needs_buffer_flush(struct xwl_screen *xwl_screen)
                 XWL_EGL_BACKEND_NEEDS_BUFFER_FLUSH);
 }
 
+Bool
+xwl_glamor_needs_n_buffering(struct xwl_screen *xwl_screen)
+{
+    /* wl_shm benefits from n-buffering */
+    if (!xwl_screen->glamor || !xwl_screen->egl_backend)
+        return TRUE;
+
+    return (xwl_screen->egl_backend->backend_flags &
+                XWL_EGL_BACKEND_NEEDS_N_BUFFERING);
+}
+
 void
 xwl_glamor_init_backends(struct xwl_screen *xwl_screen, Bool use_eglstream)
 {
diff --git a/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor.h b/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor.h
index 07b08a828..029b5dbd1 100644
--- a/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor.h
+++ b/hw/xwayland/xwayland-glamor.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ typedef enum _xwl_egl_backend_flags {
     XWL_EGL_BACKEND_NO_FLAG = 0,
     XWL_EGL_BACKEND_HAS_PRESENT_FLIP = (1 << 0),
     XWL_EGL_BACKEND_NEEDS_BUFFER_FLUSH = (1 << 1),
+    XWL_EGL_BACKEND_NEEDS_N_BUFFERING = (1 << 2),
 } xwl_egl_backend_flags;
 
 struct xwl_egl_backend {
@@ -120,6 +121,7 @@ Bool xwl_glamor_allow_commits(struct xwl_window *xwl_window);
 void xwl_glamor_egl_make_current(struct xwl_screen *xwl_screen);
 Bool xwl_glamor_has_present_flip(struct xwl_screen *xwl_screen);
 Bool xwl_glamor_needs_buffer_flush(struct xwl_screen *xwl_screen);
+Bool xwl_glamor_needs_n_buffering(struct xwl_screen *xwl_screen);
 
 
 #ifdef XV
diff --git a/hw/xwayland/xwayland-window-buffers.c b/hw/xwayland/xwayland-window-buffers.c
index d1ae8774f..7336a7fbe 100644
--- a/hw/xwayland/xwayland-window-buffers.c
+++ b/hw/xwayland/xwayland-window-buffers.c
@@ -279,6 +279,11 @@ xwl_window_buffers_get_pixmap(struct xwl_window *xwl_window,
 
     window_pixmap = (*xwl_screen->screen->GetWindowPixmap) (xwl_window->window);
 
+#ifdef XWL_HAS_GLAMOR
+    if (!xwl_glamor_needs_n_buffering(xwl_screen))
+        return window_pixmap;
+#endif /* XWL_HAS_GLAMOR */
+
     xwl_window_buffer = xwl_window_buffer_get_available(xwl_window);
     if (!xwl_window_buffer)
         return window_pixmap;