diff --git a/cogl/cogl-buffer.c b/cogl/cogl-buffer.c
index c661077fa..954c44bbe 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-buffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-buffer.c
@@ -105,6 +105,15 @@ _cogl_buffer_fini (CoglBuffer *buffer)
     cogl_buffer_unmap (buffer);
 }
 
+/* OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2 have a GL_OES_mapbuffer extension that is able to map
+ * VBOs for write only, we don't support that in CoglBuffer */
+#if defined (COGL_HAS_GLES)
+GLenum
+_cogl_buffer_access_to_gl_enum (CoglBufferAccess access)
+{
+  return 0;
+}
+#else
 GLenum
 _cogl_buffer_access_to_gl_enum (CoglBufferAccess access)
 {
@@ -115,7 +124,25 @@ _cogl_buffer_access_to_gl_enum (CoglBufferAccess access)
   else
     return GL_READ_ONLY;
 }
+#endif
 
+/* OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2 only know about STATIC_DRAW and DYNAMIC_DRAW */
+#if defined (COGL_HAS_GLES)
+GLenum
+_cogl_buffer_hint_to_gl_enum (CoglBufferHint usage_hint)
+{
+  switch (usage_hint)
+    {
+    case COGL_BUFFER_HINT_STATIC_DRAW:
+      return GL_STATIC_DRAW;
+    case COGL_BUFFER_HINT_DYNAMIC_DRAW:
+    case COGL_BUFFER_HINT_STREAM_DRAW:
+      return GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW;
+    default:
+      return GL_STATIC_DRAW;
+    }
+}
+#else
 GLenum
 _cogl_buffer_hints_to_gl_enum (CoglBufferUsageHint  usage_hint,
                                CoglBufferUpdateHint update_hint)
@@ -150,6 +177,7 @@ _cogl_buffer_hints_to_gl_enum (CoglBufferUsageHint  usage_hint,
 
   return GL_STATIC_DRAW;
 }
+#endif
 
 void
 _cogl_buffer_bind (CoglBuffer *buffer,
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-pixel-buffer.c b/cogl/cogl-pixel-buffer.c
index d4cbcee72..69eac9c4a 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-pixel-buffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-pixel-buffer.c
@@ -78,7 +78,9 @@
 
 static void _cogl_pixel_buffer_free (CoglPixelBuffer *buffer);
 
+#if !defined (COGL_HAS_GLES)
 static const CoglBufferVtable cogl_pixel_buffer_vtable;
+#endif
 static const CoglBufferVtable cogl_malloc_pixel_buffer_vtable;
 
 /* we don't want to use the stock COGL_HANDLE_DEFINE * for 2 reasons:
@@ -149,6 +151,8 @@ cogl_pixel_buffer_new_EXP (guint size)
                            COGL_BUFFER_USAGE_HINT_DRAW,
                            COGL_BUFFER_UPDATE_HINT_STATIC);
 
+/* malloc version only for GLES */
+#if !defined (COGL_HAS_GLES)
   if (cogl_features_available (COGL_FEATURE_PBOS))
     {
       /* PBOS */
@@ -158,6 +162,7 @@ cogl_pixel_buffer_new_EXP (guint size)
       COGL_BUFFER_SET_FLAG (buffer, BUFFER_OBJECT);
     }
   else
+#endif
     {
       /* malloc fallback subclass */
       buffer->vtable = &cogl_malloc_pixel_buffer_vtable;
@@ -219,6 +224,7 @@ _cogl_pixel_buffer_free (CoglPixelBuffer *buffer)
   g_slice_free (CoglPixelBuffer, buffer);
 }
 
+#if !defined (COGL_HAS_GLES)
 static guchar *
 _cogl_pixel_buffer_map (CoglBuffer       *buffer,
                         CoglBufferAccess  access)
@@ -330,6 +336,7 @@ static const CoglBufferVtable cogl_pixel_buffer_vtable =
   _cogl_pixel_buffer_unmap,
   _cogl_pixel_buffer_set_data,
 };
+#endif
 
 /*
  * Fallback path, buffer->data points to a malloc'ed buffer.
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-texture.c b/cogl/cogl-texture.c
index 9693a6ed6..4c6d862be 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-texture.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-texture.c
@@ -465,7 +465,6 @@ cogl_texture_new_from_buffer_EXP (CoglHandle       buffer,
                                   const guint      offset)
 {
   CoglHandle texture;
-  CoglBitmap bitmap;
   CoglBuffer *cogl_buffer;
   CoglPixelBuffer *pixel_buffer;
 
@@ -496,8 +495,11 @@ cogl_texture_new_from_buffer_EXP (CoglHandle       buffer,
       return COGL_INVALID_HANDLE;
     }
 
+#if !defined (COGL_HAS_GLES)
   if (cogl_features_available (COGL_FEATURE_PBOS))
     {
+      CoglBitmap bitmap;
+
       /* Wrap the data into a bitmap */
       bitmap.width = width;
       bitmap.height = height;
@@ -510,6 +512,7 @@ cogl_texture_new_from_buffer_EXP (CoglHandle       buffer,
       _cogl_buffer_bind (NULL, GL_PIXEL_UNPACK_BUFFER);
     }
   else
+#endif
     {
       texture = cogl_texture_new_from_data (width,
 			                    height,