diff --git a/src/core/bell.c b/src/core/bell.c
index cc25a27ec..5479142f4 100644
--- a/src/core/bell.c
+++ b/src/core/bell.c
@@ -58,88 +58,6 @@
 #include <canberra-gtk.h>
 #endif
 
-/**
- * bell_flash_screen:
- * @display:  The display which owns the screen (rather redundant)
- * @screen:   The screen to flash
- *
- * Flashes one entire screen.  This is done by making a window the size of the
- * whole screen (or reusing the old one, if it's still around), mapping it,
- * painting it white and then black, and then unmapping it. We set saveunder so
- * that all the windows behind it come back immediately.
- *
- * Unlike frame flashes, we don't do fullscreen flashes with a timeout; rather,
- * we do them in one go, because we don't have to rely on the theme code
- * redrawing the frame for us in order to do the flash.
- */
-/*
- * Bug: The way I read it, this appears not to do the flash
- * the first time we flash a particular display. Am I wrong?
- *
- * Bug: This appears to destroy our current XSync status.
- */
-static void
-bell_flash_screen (MetaDisplay *display, 
-			MetaScreen  *screen)
-{
-  Window root = screen->xroot;
-  int width = screen->rect.width;
-  int height = screen->rect.height;
-  
-  if (screen->flash_window == None)
-    {
-      Visual *visual = (Visual *)CopyFromParent;
-      XSetWindowAttributes xswa;
-      int depth = CopyFromParent;
-      xswa.save_under = True;
-      xswa.override_redirect = True;
-      /* 
-       * TODO: use XGetVisualInfo and determine which is an
-       * overlay, if one is present, and use the Overlay visual
-       * for this window (for performance reasons).  
-       * Not sure how to tell this yet... 
-       */
-      screen->flash_window = XCreateWindow (display->xdisplay, root,
-					    0, 0, width, height,
-					    0, depth,
-					    InputOutput,
-					    visual,
-				    /* note: XSun doesn't like SaveUnder here */
-					    CWSaveUnder | CWOverrideRedirect,
-					    &xswa);
-      XSelectInput (display->xdisplay, screen->flash_window, ExposureMask);
-      XMapWindow (display->xdisplay, screen->flash_window);
-      XSync (display->xdisplay, False);
-      XFlush (display->xdisplay);
-      XUnmapWindow (display->xdisplay, screen->flash_window);
-    }
-  else
-    {
-      /* just draw something in the window */
-      GC gc = XCreateGC (display->xdisplay, screen->flash_window, 0, NULL);
-      XMapWindow (display->xdisplay, screen->flash_window);
-      XSetForeground (display->xdisplay, gc,
-		      WhitePixel (display->xdisplay, 
-				  XScreenNumberOfScreen (screen->xscreen)));
-      XFillRectangle (display->xdisplay, screen->flash_window, gc,
-		      0, 0, width, height);
-      XSetForeground (display->xdisplay, gc,
-		      BlackPixel (display->xdisplay, 
-				  XScreenNumberOfScreen (screen->xscreen)));
-      XFillRectangle (display->xdisplay, screen->flash_window, gc,
-		      0, 0, width, height);
-      XFlush (display->xdisplay);
-      XSync (display->xdisplay, False);
-      XUnmapWindow (display->xdisplay, screen->flash_window);
-      XFreeGC (display->xdisplay, gc);
-    }
-
-  if (meta_prefs_get_focus_mode () != G_DESKTOP_FOCUS_MODE_CLICK &&
-      !display->mouse_mode)
-    meta_display_increment_focus_sentinel (display);
-  XFlush (display->xdisplay);
-}
-
 /**
  * bell_flash_fullscreen:
  * @display: The display the event came in on
@@ -164,12 +82,7 @@ bell_flash_fullscreen (MetaDisplay *display,
     {
       screen = meta_display_screen_for_xwindow (display, xkb_bell_ev->window);
       if (screen)
-        {
-          if (display->compositor)
-            meta_compositor_flash_screen (display->compositor, screen);
-          else
-            bell_flash_screen (display, screen);
-        }
+        meta_compositor_flash_screen (display->compositor, screen);
     }
   else 
     {
@@ -177,10 +90,7 @@ bell_flash_fullscreen (MetaDisplay *display,
       while (screen_list) 
 	{
 	  screen = (MetaScreen *) screen_list->data;
-          if (display->compositor)
-            meta_compositor_flash_screen (display->compositor, screen);
-          else
-            bell_flash_screen (display, screen);
+          meta_compositor_flash_screen (display->compositor, screen);
 	  screen_list = screen_list->next;
 	}
     }
diff --git a/src/core/display.c b/src/core/display.c
index 08df05102..f4c5946aa 100644
--- a/src/core/display.c
+++ b/src/core/display.c
@@ -2621,7 +2621,7 @@ handle_other_xevent (MetaDisplay *display,
       /* NB: override redirect windows wont cause a map request so we
        * watch out for map notifies against any root windows too if a
        * compositor is enabled: */
-      if (display->compositor && window == NULL
+      if (window == NULL
           && meta_display_screen_for_root (display, event->xmap.event))
         {
           window = meta_window_x11_new (display, event->xmap.window,
@@ -3085,7 +3085,7 @@ meta_display_handle_xevent (MetaDisplay *display,
     }
 
  out:
-  if (display->compositor && !bypass_compositor)
+  if (!bypass_compositor)
     {
       MetaWindow *window = modified != None ? meta_display_lookup_x_window (display, modified) : NULL;
 
diff --git a/src/core/screen.c b/src/core/screen.c
index f1700c580..512a722a6 100644
--- a/src/core/screen.c
+++ b/src/core/screen.c
@@ -809,11 +809,8 @@ meta_screen_free (MetaScreen *screen,
   
   meta_display_grab (display);
 
-  if (screen->display->compositor)
-    {
-      meta_compositor_unmanage_screen (screen->display->compositor,
-				       screen);
-    }
+  meta_compositor_unmanage_screen (screen->display->compositor,
+                                   screen);
   
   meta_display_unmanage_windows_for_screen (display, screen, timestamp);
   
@@ -2523,10 +2520,9 @@ on_monitors_changed (MetaMonitorManager *manager,
                        &changes);
     }
 
-  if (screen->display->compositor)
-    meta_compositor_sync_screen_size (screen->display->compositor,
-				      screen,
-                                      screen->rect.width, screen->rect.height);
+  meta_compositor_sync_screen_size (screen->display->compositor,
+                                    screen,
+                                    screen->rect.width, screen->rect.height);
 
   /* Queue a resize on all the windows */
   meta_screen_foreach_window (screen, meta_screen_resize_func, 0);
diff --git a/src/core/stack-tracker.c b/src/core/stack-tracker.c
index a323a0410..e87c13f1c 100644
--- a/src/core/stack-tracker.c
+++ b/src/core/stack-tracker.c
@@ -1245,10 +1245,9 @@ meta_stack_tracker_sync_stack (MetaStackTracker *tracker)
         meta_windows = g_list_prepend (meta_windows, window->wayland.meta_window);
     }
 
-  if (tracker->screen->display->compositor)
-    meta_compositor_sync_stack (tracker->screen->display->compositor,
-                                tracker->screen,
-                                meta_windows);
+  meta_compositor_sync_stack (tracker->screen->display->compositor,
+                              tracker->screen,
+                              meta_windows);
   g_list_free (meta_windows);
 
   meta_screen_restacked (tracker->screen);
diff --git a/src/core/window.c b/src/core/window.c
index 9aff235a3..38aaf11fd 100644
--- a/src/core/window.c
+++ b/src/core/window.c
@@ -1221,8 +1221,7 @@ _meta_window_shared_new (MetaDisplay         *display,
       set_net_wm_state (window);
     }
 
-  if (screen->display->compositor)
-    meta_compositor_add_window (screen->display->compositor, window);
+  meta_compositor_add_window (screen->display->compositor, window);
 
   /* Sync stack changes */
   meta_stack_thaw (window->screen->stack);
@@ -1505,14 +1504,11 @@ meta_window_unmanage (MetaWindow  *window,
                                         0);
     }
 
-  if (window->display->compositor)
-    {
-      if (window->visible_to_compositor)
-        meta_compositor_hide_window (window->display->compositor, window,
-                                     META_COMP_EFFECT_DESTROY);
+  if (window->visible_to_compositor)
+    meta_compositor_hide_window (window->display->compositor, window,
+                                 META_COMP_EFFECT_DESTROY);
 
-      meta_compositor_remove_window (window->display->compositor, window);
-    }
+  meta_compositor_remove_window (window->display->compositor, window);
 
   if (window->display->window_with_menu == window)
     {
@@ -2747,27 +2743,24 @@ meta_window_show (MetaWindow *window)
 
   if (!window->visible_to_compositor)
     {
+      MetaCompEffect effect = META_COMP_EFFECT_NONE;
+
       window->visible_to_compositor = TRUE;
 
-      if (window->display->compositor)
+      switch (window->pending_compositor_effect)
         {
-          MetaCompEffect effect = META_COMP_EFFECT_NONE;
-
-          switch (window->pending_compositor_effect)
-            {
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_CREATE:
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_UNMINIMIZE:
-              effect = window->pending_compositor_effect;
-              break;
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_NONE:
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_DESTROY:
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_MINIMIZE:
-              break;
-            }
-
-          meta_compositor_show_window (window->display->compositor,
-                                       window, effect);
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_CREATE:
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_UNMINIMIZE:
+          effect = window->pending_compositor_effect;
+          break;
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_NONE:
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_DESTROY:
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_MINIMIZE:
+          break;
         }
+
+      meta_compositor_show_window (window->display->compositor,
+                                   window, effect);
     }
 
   /* We don't want to worry about all cases from inside
@@ -2840,26 +2833,23 @@ meta_window_hide (MetaWindow *window)
 
   if (window->visible_to_compositor)
     {
+      MetaCompEffect effect = META_COMP_EFFECT_NONE;
+
       window->visible_to_compositor = FALSE;
 
-      if (window->display->compositor)
+      switch (window->pending_compositor_effect)
         {
-          MetaCompEffect effect = META_COMP_EFFECT_NONE;
-
-          switch (window->pending_compositor_effect)
-            {
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_CREATE:
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_UNMINIMIZE:
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_NONE:
-              break;
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_DESTROY:
-            case META_COMP_EFFECT_MINIMIZE:
-              effect = window->pending_compositor_effect;
-              break;
-            }
-
-          meta_compositor_hide_window (window->display->compositor, window, effect);
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_CREATE:
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_UNMINIMIZE:
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_NONE:
+          break;
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_DESTROY:
+        case META_COMP_EFFECT_MINIMIZE:
+          effect = window->pending_compositor_effect;
+          break;
         }
+
+      meta_compositor_hide_window (window->display->compositor, window, effect);
     }
 
   did_hide = FALSE;
@@ -3125,6 +3115,8 @@ meta_window_maximize (MetaWindow        *window,
 {
   MetaRectangle *saved_rect = NULL;
   gboolean maximize_horizontally, maximize_vertically;
+  MetaRectangle old_rect;
+  MetaRectangle new_rect;
 
   g_return_if_fail (!window->override_redirect);
 
@@ -3174,27 +3166,15 @@ meta_window_maximize (MetaWindow        *window,
                                      directions,
                                      saved_rect);
 
-      if (window->display->compositor)
-        {
-          MetaRectangle old_rect;
-	  MetaRectangle new_rect;
+      meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &old_rect);
 
-	  meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &old_rect);
+      meta_window_move_resize_now (window);
 
-          meta_window_move_resize_now (window);
-
-	  meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &new_rect);
-          meta_compositor_maximize_window (window->display->compositor,
-                                           window,
-                                           &old_rect,
-					   &new_rect);
-        }
-      else
-        {
-          /* move_resize with new maximization constraints
-           */
-          meta_window_queue(window, META_QUEUE_MOVE_RESIZE);
-        }
+      meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &new_rect);
+      meta_compositor_maximize_window (window->display->compositor,
+                                       window,
+                                       &old_rect,
+                                       &new_rect);
     }
 }
 
@@ -3354,6 +3334,8 @@ void
 meta_window_tile (MetaWindow *window)
 {
   MetaMaximizeFlags directions;
+  MetaRectangle old_rect;
+  MetaRectangle new_rect;
 
   /* Don't do anything if no tiling is requested */
   if (window->tile_mode == META_TILE_NONE)
@@ -3367,31 +3349,19 @@ meta_window_tile (MetaWindow *window)
   meta_window_maximize_internal (window, directions, NULL);
   meta_screen_update_tile_preview (window->screen, FALSE);
 
-  if (window->display->compositor)
-    {
-      MetaRectangle old_rect;
-      MetaRectangle new_rect;
+  meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &old_rect);
 
-      meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &old_rect);
+  meta_window_move_resize_now (window);
 
-      meta_window_move_resize_now (window);
+  meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &new_rect);
+  meta_compositor_maximize_window (window->display->compositor,
+                                   window,
+                                   &old_rect,
+                                   &new_rect);
 
-      meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &new_rect);
-      meta_compositor_maximize_window (window->display->compositor,
-                                       window,
-                                       &old_rect,
-                                       &new_rect);
-
-      if (window->frame)
-        meta_ui_queue_frame_draw (window->screen->ui,
-                                  window->frame->xwindow);
-    }
-  else
-    {
-      /* move_resize with new tiling constraints
-       */
-      meta_window_queue (window, META_QUEUE_MOVE_RESIZE);
-    }
+  if (window->frame)
+    meta_ui_queue_frame_draw (window->screen->ui,
+                              window->frame->xwindow);
 }
 
 static gboolean
@@ -3464,6 +3434,7 @@ meta_window_unmaximize_internal (MetaWindow        *window,
                                  int                gravity)
 {
   gboolean unmaximize_horizontally, unmaximize_vertically;
+  MetaRectangle new_rect;
 
   g_return_if_fail (!window->override_redirect);
 
@@ -3548,34 +3519,19 @@ meta_window_unmaximize_internal (MetaWindow        *window,
        */
       ensure_size_hints_satisfied (&target_rect, &window->size_hints);
 
-      if (window->display->compositor)
-        {
-          MetaRectangle new_rect;
+      meta_window_move_resize_internal (window,
+                                        META_IS_MOVE_ACTION | META_IS_RESIZE_ACTION,
+                                        gravity,
+                                        target_rect.x,
+                                        target_rect.y,
+                                        target_rect.width,
+                                        target_rect.height);
 
-          meta_window_move_resize_internal (window,
-                                            META_IS_MOVE_ACTION | META_IS_RESIZE_ACTION,
-                                            gravity,
-                                            target_rect.x,
-                                            target_rect.y,
-                                            target_rect.width,
-                                            target_rect.height);
-
-	  meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &new_rect);
-          meta_compositor_unmaximize_window (window->display->compositor,
-					     window,
-                                             &old_rect,
-					     &new_rect);
-        }
-      else
-        {
-          meta_window_move_resize_internal (window,
-                                            META_IS_MOVE_ACTION | META_IS_RESIZE_ACTION,
-                                            gravity,
-                                            target_rect.x,
-                                            target_rect.y,
-                                            target_rect.width,
-                                            target_rect.height);
-        }
+      meta_window_get_frame_rect (window, &new_rect);
+      meta_compositor_unmaximize_window (window->display->compositor,
+                                         window,
+                                         &old_rect,
+                                         &new_rect);
 
       /* Make sure user_rect is current.
        */
@@ -5014,10 +4970,9 @@ meta_window_move_resize_internal (MetaWindow          *window,
                   newx, newy, window->rect.width, window->rect.height,
                   window->user_rect.x, window->user_rect.y,
                   window->user_rect.width, window->user_rect.height);
-      if (window->display->compositor)
-        meta_compositor_sync_window_geometry (window->display->compositor,
-                                              window,
-                                              did_placement);
+      meta_compositor_sync_window_geometry (window->display->compositor,
+                                            window,
+                                            did_placement);
     }
   else
     {
@@ -10117,8 +10072,7 @@ meta_window_set_opacity (MetaWindow *window,
 {
   window->opacity = opacity;
 
-  if (window->display->compositor)
-    meta_compositor_window_opacity_changed (window->display->compositor, window);
+  meta_compositor_window_opacity_changed (window->display->compositor, window);
 }
 
 static void
diff --git a/src/x11/window-x11.c b/src/x11/window-x11.c
index c8db060e5..5abc848a6 100644
--- a/src/x11/window-x11.c
+++ b/src/x11/window-x11.c
@@ -297,8 +297,7 @@ meta_window_set_opaque_region (MetaWindow     *window,
   if (region != NULL)
     window->opaque_region = cairo_region_reference (region);
 
-  if (window->display->compositor)
-    meta_compositor_window_shape_changed (window->display->compositor, window);
+  meta_compositor_window_shape_changed (window->display->compositor, window);
 }
 
 void
@@ -383,8 +382,7 @@ meta_window_set_input_region (MetaWindow     *window,
   if (region != NULL)
     window->input_region = cairo_region_reference (region);
 
-  if (window->display->compositor)
-    meta_compositor_window_shape_changed (window->display->compositor, window);
+  meta_compositor_window_shape_changed (window->display->compositor, window);
 }
 
 #if 0
@@ -490,8 +488,7 @@ meta_window_set_shape_region (MetaWindow     *window,
   if (region != NULL)
     window->shape_region = cairo_region_reference (region);
 
-  if (window->display->compositor)
-    meta_compositor_window_shape_changed (window->display->compositor, window);
+  meta_compositor_window_shape_changed (window->display->compositor, window);
 }
 
 void
@@ -1348,7 +1345,7 @@ is_our_xwindow (MetaDisplay       *display,
   if (xwindow == screen->guard_window)
     return TRUE;
 
-  if (display->compositor && xwindow == XCompositeGetOverlayWindow (display->xdisplay, screen->xroot))
+  if (xwindow == XCompositeGetOverlayWindow (display->xdisplay, screen->xroot))
     return TRUE;
 
   /* Any windows created via meta_create_offscreen_window */
@@ -1687,6 +1684,5 @@ meta_window_x11_configure_notify (MetaWindow      *window,
   if (!event->override_redirect && !event->send_event)
     meta_warning ("Unhandled change of windows override redirect status\n");
 
-  if (window->display->compositor)
-    meta_compositor_sync_window_geometry (window->display->compositor, window, FALSE);
+  meta_compositor_sync_window_geometry (window->display->compositor, window, FALSE);
 }