diff --git a/cogl/cogl-attribute-private.h b/cogl/cogl-attribute-private.h
index 82a15f20c..6271aab63 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-attribute-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-attribute-private.h
@@ -77,7 +77,10 @@ typedef enum
      blending. However when drawing from the journal we know what the
      contents of the color array is so we can override this by passing
      this flag. */
-  COGL_DRAW_COLOR_ATTRIBUTE_IS_OPAQUE = 1 << 4
+  COGL_DRAW_COLOR_ATTRIBUTE_IS_OPAQUE = 1 << 4,
+  /* This forcibly disables the debug option to divert all drawing to
+   * wireframes */
+  COGL_DRAW_SKIP_DEBUG_WIREFRAME = 1 << 5
 } CoglDrawFlags;
 
 /* During CoglContext initialization we register the "cogl_color_in"
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
index 43971c2c9..8865ba9d2 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
@@ -3245,7 +3245,8 @@ draw_wireframe (CoglContext *ctx,
                 int n_vertices,
                 CoglAttribute **attributes,
                 int n_attributes,
-                CoglIndices *indices)
+                CoglIndices *indices,
+                CoglDrawFlags flags)
 {
   CoglIndices *wire_indices;
   CoglPipeline *wire_pipeline;
@@ -3294,7 +3295,7 @@ draw_wireframe (CoglContext *ctx,
     }
 
   /* temporarily disable the wireframe to avoid recursion! */
-  COGL_DEBUG_CLEAR_FLAG (COGL_DEBUG_WIREFRAME);
+  flags |= COGL_DRAW_SKIP_DEBUG_WIREFRAME;
   _cogl_framebuffer_draw_indexed_attributes (
                                            framebuffer,
                                            wire_pipeline,
@@ -3304,10 +3305,7 @@ draw_wireframe (CoglContext *ctx,
                                            wire_indices,
                                            attributes,
                                            n_attributes,
-                                           COGL_DRAW_SKIP_JOURNAL_FLUSH |
-                                           COGL_DRAW_SKIP_PIPELINE_VALIDATION |
-                                           COGL_DRAW_SKIP_FRAMEBUFFER_FLUSH |
-                                           COGL_DRAW_SKIP_LEGACY_STATE);
+                                           flags);
   COGL_DEBUG_SET_FLAG (COGL_DEBUG_WIREFRAME);
 
   cogl_object_unref (wire_indices);
@@ -3328,11 +3326,13 @@ _cogl_framebuffer_draw_attributes (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
                                    CoglDrawFlags flags)
 {
 #ifdef COGL_ENABLE_DEBUG
-  if (G_UNLIKELY (COGL_DEBUG_ENABLED (COGL_DEBUG_WIREFRAME)))
+  if (G_UNLIKELY (COGL_DEBUG_ENABLED (COGL_DEBUG_WIREFRAME) &&
+                  (flags & COGL_DRAW_SKIP_DEBUG_WIREFRAME) == 0))
     draw_wireframe (framebuffer->context,
                     framebuffer, pipeline,
                     mode, first_vertex, n_vertices,
-                    attributes, n_attributes, NULL);
+                    attributes, n_attributes, NULL,
+                    flags);
   else
 #endif
     {
@@ -3422,11 +3422,13 @@ _cogl_framebuffer_draw_indexed_attributes (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
                                            CoglDrawFlags flags)
 {
 #ifdef COGL_ENABLE_DEBUG
-  if (G_UNLIKELY (COGL_DEBUG_ENABLED (COGL_DEBUG_WIREFRAME)))
+  if (G_UNLIKELY (COGL_DEBUG_ENABLED (COGL_DEBUG_WIREFRAME) &&
+                  (flags & COGL_DRAW_SKIP_DEBUG_WIREFRAME) == 0))
     draw_wireframe (framebuffer->context,
                     framebuffer, pipeline,
                     mode, first_vertex, n_vertices,
-                    attributes, n_attributes, indices);
+                    attributes, n_attributes, indices,
+                    flags);
   else
 #endif
     {