diff --git a/cogl/cogl-renderer-private.h b/cogl/cogl-renderer-private.h
index 75ae1493f..3e2601f67 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-renderer-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-renderer-private.h
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ struct _CoglRenderer
 
 #if defined (COGL_HAS_EGL_PLATFORM_WAYLAND_SUPPORT)
   struct wl_display *foreign_wayland_display;
+  CoglBool wayland_enable_event_dispatch;
 #endif
 
 #ifdef COGL_HAS_SDL_SUPPORT
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-renderer.c b/cogl/cogl-renderer.c
index e3008db79..41b1eaa4f 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-renderer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-renderer.c
@@ -197,6 +197,10 @@ cogl_renderer_new (void)
   renderer->win32_enable_event_retrieval = TRUE;
 #endif
 
+#ifdef COGL_HAS_EGL_PLATFORM_WAYLAND_SUPPORT
+  renderer->wayland_enable_event_dispatch = TRUE;
+#endif
+
   return _cogl_renderer_object_new (renderer);
 }
 
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-wayland-renderer.h b/cogl/cogl-wayland-renderer.h
index 3f9e4341e..20b0b4944 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-wayland-renderer.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-wayland-renderer.h
@@ -51,6 +51,28 @@ void
 cogl_wayland_renderer_set_foreign_display (CoglRenderer *renderer,
                                            struct wl_display *display);
 
+/**
+ * cogl_wayland_renderer_set_event_dispatch_enabled:
+ * @renderer: A #CoglRenderer
+ * @enable: The new value
+ *
+ * Sets whether Cogl should handle calling wl_display_dispatch() and
+ * wl_display_flush() as part of its main loop integration via
+ * cogl_poll_renderer_get_info() and cogl_poll_renderer_dispatch().
+ * The default value is %TRUE. When it is enabled the application can
+ * register listeners for Wayland interfaces and the callbacks will be
+ * invoked during cogl_poll_renderer_dispatch(). If the application
+ * wants to integrate with its own code that is already handling
+ * reading from the Wayland display socket, it should disable this to
+ * avoid having competing code read from the socket.
+ *
+ * Since: 1.16
+ * Stability: unstable
+ */
+void
+cogl_wayland_renderer_set_event_dispatch_enabled (CoglRenderer *renderer,
+                                                  CoglBool enable);
+
 /**
  * cogl_wayland_renderer_get_display:
  * @renderer: A #CoglRenderer
diff --git a/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl-wayland.c b/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl-wayland.c
index 4b4d522fd..4b4e377e0 100644
--- a/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl-wayland.c
+++ b/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl-wayland.c
@@ -233,13 +233,15 @@ _cogl_winsys_renderer_connect (CoglRenderer *renderer,
   if (!_cogl_winsys_egl_renderer_connect_common (renderer, error))
     goto error;
 
-  wayland_renderer->fd = wl_display_get_fd(wayland_renderer->wayland_display);
-  _cogl_poll_renderer_add_fd (renderer,
-                              wayland_renderer->fd,
-                              COGL_POLL_FD_EVENT_IN,
-                              prepare_wayland_display_events,
-                              dispatch_wayland_display_events,
-                              renderer);
+  wayland_renderer->fd = wl_display_get_fd (wayland_renderer->wayland_display);
+
+  if (renderer->wayland_enable_event_dispatch)
+    _cogl_poll_renderer_add_fd (renderer,
+                                wayland_renderer->fd,
+                                COGL_POLL_FD_EVENT_IN,
+                                prepare_wayland_display_events,
+                                dispatch_wayland_display_events,
+                                renderer);
 
   return TRUE;
 
@@ -547,6 +549,17 @@ cogl_wayland_renderer_set_foreign_display (CoglRenderer *renderer,
   renderer->foreign_wayland_display = display;
 }
 
+void
+cogl_wayland_renderer_set_event_dispatch_enabled (CoglRenderer *renderer,
+                                                  CoglBool enable)
+{
+  _COGL_RETURN_IF_FAIL (cogl_is_renderer (renderer));
+  /* NB: Renderers are considered immutable once connected */
+  _COGL_RETURN_IF_FAIL (!renderer->connected);
+
+  renderer->wayland_enable_event_dispatch = enable;
+}
+
 struct wl_display *
 cogl_wayland_renderer_get_display (CoglRenderer *renderer)
 {
diff --git a/doc/reference/cogl-2.0-experimental/cogl-2.0-experimental-sections.txt b/doc/reference/cogl-2.0-experimental/cogl-2.0-experimental-sections.txt
index 9b31f3a47..00ed18ffd 100644
--- a/doc/reference/cogl-2.0-experimental/cogl-2.0-experimental-sections.txt
+++ b/doc/reference/cogl-2.0-experimental/cogl-2.0-experimental-sections.txt
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ cogl_win32_renderer_set_event_retrieval_enabled
 
 <SUBSECTION>
 cogl_wayland_renderer_set_foreign_display
+cogl_wayland_renderer_set_event_dispatch_enabled
 cogl_wayland_renderer_get_display
 </SECTION>