diff --git a/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer-private.h b/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer-private.h
index 3c2b6829b..ea0ee906f 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer-private.h
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ typedef struct _CoglXlibRenderer
   CoglXlibTrapState *trap_state;
 
   unsigned long outputs_update_serial;
+
+  XVisualInfo *xvisinfo;
 } CoglXlibRenderer;
 
 CoglBool
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer.c b/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer.c
index 740f1e435..8801c1cbf 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer.c
@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ static GList *_cogl_xlib_renderers = NULL;
 static void
 destroy_xlib_renderer_data (void *user_data)
 {
+  CoglXlibRenderer *data = user_data;
+
+  if (data->xvisinfo)
+    XFree (data->xvisinfo);
+
   g_slice_free (CoglXlibRenderer, user_data);
 }
 
@@ -658,3 +663,15 @@ _cogl_xlib_renderer_output_for_rectangle (CoglRenderer *renderer,
 
   return max_overlapped;
 }
+
+XVisualInfo *
+cogl_xlib_renderer_get_visual_info (CoglRenderer *renderer)
+{
+  CoglXlibRenderer *xlib_renderer;
+
+  _COGL_RETURN_VAL_IF_FAIL (cogl_is_renderer (renderer), NULL);
+
+  xlib_renderer = _cogl_xlib_renderer_get_data (renderer);
+
+  return xlib_renderer->xvisinfo;
+}
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer.h b/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer.h
index 6318957a6..fdce06b03 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-xlib-renderer.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #define __COGL_XLIB_RENDERER_H__
 
 #include <X11/Xlib.h>
+#include <X11/Xutil.h>
 
 /* NB: this is a top-level header that can be included directly but we
  * want to be careful not to define __COGL_H_INSIDE__ when this is
@@ -169,6 +170,9 @@ cogl_xlib_renderer_set_event_retrieval_enabled (CoglRenderer *renderer,
 Display *
 cogl_xlib_renderer_get_display (CoglRenderer *renderer);
 
+XVisualInfo *
+cogl_xlib_renderer_get_visual_info (CoglRenderer *renderer);
+
 COGL_END_DECLS
 
 /* The gobject introspection scanner seems to parse public headers in
diff --git a/cogl/cogl.symbols b/cogl/cogl.symbols
index c48314ac6..c3b9f5a78 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl.symbols
+++ b/cogl/cogl.symbols
@@ -1063,6 +1063,7 @@ cogl_xlib_handle_event
 cogl_xlib_renderer_add_filter
 cogl_xlib_renderer_get_display
 cogl_xlib_renderer_get_foreign_display
+cogl_xlib_renderer_get_visual_info
 cogl_xlib_renderer_handle_event
 cogl_xlib_renderer_remove_filter
 cogl_xlib_renderer_set_event_retrieval_enabled