diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
index ad6c7ce62..2e3b1995e 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
@@ -87,6 +87,26 @@ typedef struct _CoglOnscreen
 void
 _cogl_framebuffer_state_init (void);
 
+void
+_cogl_clear4f (unsigned long buffers,
+               float red,
+               float green,
+               float blue,
+               float alpha);
+
+void
+_cogl_framebuffer_clear (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
+                         unsigned long buffers,
+                         const CoglColor *color);
+
+void
+_cogl_framebuffer_clear4f (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
+                           unsigned long buffers,
+                           float red,
+                           float green,
+                           float blue,
+                           float alpha);
+
 int
 _cogl_framebuffer_get_width (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer);
 
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
index 48f2a924b..9d310c128 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
@@ -169,6 +169,109 @@ _cogl_framebuffer_free (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer)
   framebuffer->projection_stack = NULL;
 }
 
+/* This version of cogl_clear can be used internally as an alternative
+ * to avoid flushing the journal or the framebuffer state. This is
+ * needed when doing operations that may be called whiling flushing
+ * the journal */
+void
+_cogl_clear4f (unsigned long buffers,
+               float red,
+               float green,
+               float blue,
+               float alpha)
+{
+  GLbitfield gl_buffers = 0;
+
+  if (buffers & COGL_BUFFER_BIT_COLOR)
+    {
+      GE( glClearColor (red, green, blue, alpha) );
+      gl_buffers |= GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT;
+    }
+
+  if (buffers & COGL_BUFFER_BIT_DEPTH)
+    gl_buffers |= GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT;
+
+  if (buffers & COGL_BUFFER_BIT_STENCIL)
+    gl_buffers |= GL_STENCIL_BUFFER_BIT;
+
+  if (!gl_buffers)
+    {
+      static gboolean shown = FALSE;
+
+      if (!shown)
+        {
+	  g_warning ("You should specify at least one auxiliary buffer "
+                     "when calling cogl_clear");
+        }
+
+      return;
+    }
+
+  GE (glClear (gl_buffers));
+}
+
+void
+_cogl_framebuffer_clear4f (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
+                           unsigned long buffers,
+                           float red,
+                           float green,
+                           float blue,
+                           float alpha)
+{
+  COGL_NOTE (DRAW, "Clear begin");
+
+  _cogl_journal_flush ();
+
+  /* NB: _cogl_framebuffer_flush_state may disrupt various state (such
+   * as the pipeline state) when flushing the clip stack, so should
+   * always be done first when preparing to draw. */
+  _cogl_framebuffer_flush_state (framebuffer, 0);
+
+  _cogl_clear4f (buffers, red, green, blue, alpha);;
+
+  /* This is a debugging variable used to visually display the quad
+   * batches from the journal. It is reset here to increase the
+   * chances of getting the same colours for each frame during an
+   * animation */
+  if (G_UNLIKELY (cogl_debug_flags & COGL_DEBUG_RECTANGLES) &&
+      buffers & COGL_BUFFER_BIT_COLOR)
+    {
+      _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctxt, NO_RETVAL);
+      ctxt->journal_rectangles_color = 1;
+    }
+
+  COGL_NOTE (DRAW, "Clear end");
+}
+
+/* XXX: We'll need to consider if this API is a good approach for the
+ * planned, public, CoglFramebuffer API. A framebuffer may have
+ * multiple color buffers associated with it and the user may want to
+ * only clear a subset of those buffers. Flags aren't a great
+ * mechanism for handling this, but I don't think it would be very
+ * convenient if you had to explicitly enumerate the individual
+ * ancillary buffers to clear them.
+ *
+ * My current expectation is that we'll keep this flag based API but
+ * also add a way to enumerate the individual color buffers for
+ * clearing individually.
+ *
+ * Note: the 'buffers' and 'color' arguments were switched around on
+ * purpose compared to the original cogl_clear API since it was odd
+ * that you would be expected to specify a color before even
+ * necessarily choosing to clear the color buffer.
+ */
+void
+_cogl_framebuffer_clear (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
+                         unsigned long buffers,
+                         const CoglColor *color)
+{
+  _cogl_framebuffer_clear4f (framebuffer, buffers,
+                             cogl_color_get_red_float (color),
+                             cogl_color_get_green_float (color),
+                             cogl_color_get_blue_float (color),
+                             cogl_color_get_alpha_float (color));
+}
+
 int
 _cogl_framebuffer_get_width (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer)
 {
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl.c
index 6ce417208..4da18f52d 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl.c
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 #include "cogl-texture-private.h"
 #include "cogl-texture-driver.h"
 #include "cogl-vertex-attribute-private.h"
+#include "cogl-framebuffer-private.h"
 
 #ifdef HAVE_COGL_GL
 #define glClientActiveTexture ctx->drv.pf_glClientActiveTexture
@@ -145,71 +146,12 @@ cogl_check_extension (const char *name, const char *ext)
   return _cogl_check_extension (name, ext);
 }
 
-/* This version of cogl_clear can be used internally as an alternative
-   to avoid flushing the journal or the framebuffer state. This is
-   needed when doing operations that may be called whiling flushing
-   the journal */
-void
-_cogl_clear (const CoglColor *color, unsigned long buffers)
-{
-  GLbitfield gl_buffers = 0;
-
-  if (buffers & COGL_BUFFER_BIT_COLOR)
-    {
-      GE( glClearColor (cogl_color_get_red_float (color),
-			cogl_color_get_green_float (color),
-			cogl_color_get_blue_float (color),
-			cogl_color_get_alpha_float (color)) );
-      gl_buffers |= GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT;
-    }
-
-  if (buffers & COGL_BUFFER_BIT_DEPTH)
-    gl_buffers |= GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT;
-
-  if (buffers & COGL_BUFFER_BIT_STENCIL)
-    gl_buffers |= GL_STENCIL_BUFFER_BIT;
-
-  if (!gl_buffers)
-    {
-      static gboolean shown = FALSE;
-
-      if (!shown)
-        {
-	  g_warning ("You should specify at least one auxiliary buffer "
-                     "when calling cogl_clear");
-        }
-
-      return;
-    }
-
-  GE (glClear (gl_buffers));
-
-  /* This is a debugging variable used to visually display the quad
-     batches from the journal. It is reset here to increase the
-     chances of getting the same colours for each frame during an
-     animation */
-  if (G_UNLIKELY (cogl_debug_flags & COGL_DEBUG_RECTANGLES))
-    {
-      _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctxt, NO_RETVAL);
-      ctxt->journal_rectangles_color = 1;
-    }
-}
-
+/* XXX: it's expected that we'll deprecated this with
+ * cogl_framebuffer_clear at some point. */
 void
 cogl_clear (const CoglColor *color, unsigned long buffers)
 {
-  COGL_NOTE (DRAW, "Clear begin");
-
-  _cogl_journal_flush ();
-
-  /* NB: _cogl_framebuffer_flush_state may disrupt various state (such
-   * as the pipeline state) when flushing the clip stack, so should
-   * always be done first when preparing to draw. */
-  _cogl_framebuffer_flush_state (_cogl_get_framebuffer (), 0);
-
-  _cogl_clear (color, buffers);;
-
-  COGL_NOTE (DRAW, "Clear end");
+  _cogl_framebuffer_clear (_cogl_get_framebuffer (), buffers, color);
 }
 
 static gboolean
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl2-path.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl2-path.c
index d8dc6c613..0cfcaecb8 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl2-path.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl2-path.c
@@ -396,9 +396,9 @@ _cogl_add_path_to_stencil_buffer (CoglPath *path,
            will have set up a scissor for the minimum bounding box of
            all of the clips. That box will likely mean that this
            _cogl_clear won't need to clear the entire
-           buffer. _cogl_clear is used instead of cogl_clear because
+           buffer. _cogl_clear4f is used instead of cogl_clear because
            it won't try to flush the journal */
-        _cogl_clear (NULL, COGL_BUFFER_BIT_STENCIL);
+        _cogl_clear4f (COGL_BUFFER_BIT_STENCIL, 0, 0, 0, 0);
       else
         {
           /* Just clear the bounding box */