diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index a8d913c24..a752c4718 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -143,6 +143,11 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(compositor,
                  [disable metacity's compositing manager]),,
   enable_compositor=auto)
 
+AC_ARG_WITH(clutter,
+  AC_HELP_STRING([--with-clutter],
+                 [Use clutter for compositing]),,
+  with_clutter=auto)
+
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(xsync,
   AC_HELP_STRING([--disable-xsync],
                  [disable metacity's use of the XSync extension]),,
@@ -229,6 +234,18 @@ else
    have_xcomposite=no
 fi
 
+if test x$with_clutter = xyes; then
+   have_xcomposite=yes
+   have_clutter=yes
+   echo "CompositeExt support and Clutter forced on"
+elif test x$with_clutter = xauto; then
+   have_clutter=no
+else
+   have_clutter=no
+fi
+
+AM_CONDITIONAL(WITH_CLUTTER, test "$have_clutter" = "yes")
+
 if test x$have_xcomposite = xyes; then
   echo "Building with CompositeExt"
   METACITY_PC_MODULES="$METACITY_PC_MODULES xcomposite >= $XCOMPOSITE_VERSION xfixes xrender xdamage"
@@ -270,6 +287,12 @@ if test x$have_xrender = xyes; then
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_RENDER, , [Building with Render extension support])
 fi
 
+if test x$have_clutter = xyes; then
+  CLUTTER_PACKAGE=clutter-0.8
+  METACITY_PC_MODULES="$METACITY_PC_MODULES $CLUTTER_PACKAGE "
+  AC_DEFINE(WITH_CLUTTER, , [Building with Clutter compositor])
+fi
+
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([Xcursor])
 if $PKG_CONFIG xcursor; then
      have_xcursor=yes
@@ -284,8 +307,6 @@ if test x$have_xcursor = xyes; then
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_XCURSOR, , [Building with Xcursor support])
 fi
 
-METACITY_PC_MODULES="$METACITY_PC_MODULES clutter-0.8"
-
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(METACITY, $METACITY_PC_MODULES)
 
 AC_PATH_XTRA
@@ -527,6 +548,7 @@ metacity-$VERSION:
 	Xsync:                    ${found_xsync}
 	Render:                   ${have_xrender}
 	Xcursor:                  ${have_xcursor}
+	Clutter:                  ${have_clutter}
 "
 
 METACITY_MINOR_VERSION=metacity_minor_version
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 8428fc7b6..ce1e561ba 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -14,10 +14,6 @@ metacity_SOURCES= 				\
 	include/boxes.h				\
 	compositor/compositor.c			\
 	compositor/compositor-private.h		\
-	compositor/compositor-xrender.c		\
-	compositor/compositor-xrender.h		\
-	compositor/compositor-clutter.c		\
-	compositor/compositor-clutter.h		\
 	include/compositor.h			\
 	core/constraints.c			\
 	core/constraints.h			\
@@ -100,6 +96,14 @@ metacity_SOURCES= 				\
 	ui/themewidget.h			\
 	ui/ui.c
 
+if WITH_CLUTTER
+metacity_SOURCES +=	compositor/compositor-clutter.c	\
+			compositor/compositor-clutter.h
+else
+metacity_SOURCES +=	compositor/compositor-xrender.c \
+			compositor/compositor-xrender.h
+endif
+
 # by setting libmetacity_private_la_CFLAGS, the files shared with
 # metacity proper will be compiled with different names.
 libmetacity_private_la_CFLAGS =
diff --git a/src/compositor/compositor-clutter.c b/src/compositor/compositor-clutter.c
index 980896848..2adcb5fd3 100644
--- a/src/compositor/compositor-clutter.c
+++ b/src/compositor/compositor-clutter.c
@@ -1599,10 +1599,6 @@ meta_compositor_clutter_new (MetaDisplay *display)
   clc = g_new (MetaCompositorClutter, 1);
   clc->compositor = comp_info;
 
-  clutter_x11_set_display (xdisplay);
-  clutter_x11_disable_event_retrieval ();
-  clutter_init (NULL, NULL);
-
   compositor = (MetaCompositor *) clc;
 
   clc->display = display;
diff --git a/src/compositor/compositor.c b/src/compositor/compositor.c
index 86dd6325b..efb3086f4 100644
--- a/src/compositor/compositor.c
+++ b/src/compositor/compositor.c
@@ -28,9 +28,13 @@ MetaCompositor *
 meta_compositor_new (MetaDisplay *display)
 {
 #ifdef HAVE_COMPOSITE_EXTENSIONS
+#ifdef WITH_CLUTTER
   /* At some point we would have a way to select between backends */
   /* return meta_compositor_xrender_new (display); */
   return meta_compositor_clutter_new (display);
+#else
+  return meta_compositor_xrender_new (display);
+#endif
 #else
   return NULL;
 #endif
diff --git a/src/ui/ui.c b/src/ui/ui.c
index 37901184c..9c4c12b94 100644
--- a/src/ui/ui.c
+++ b/src/ui/ui.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
  * 02111-1307, USA.
  */
 
+#include <config.h>
 #include "prefs.h"
 #include "ui.h"
 #include "frames.h"
@@ -35,6 +36,11 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
+#ifdef WITH_CLUTTER
+#include <clutter/clutter.h>
+#include <clutter/x11/clutter-x11.h>
+#endif
+
 static void meta_stock_icons_init (void);
 static void meta_ui_accelerator_parse (const char      *accel,
                                        guint           *keysym,
@@ -54,6 +60,17 @@ meta_ui_init (int *argc, char ***argv)
   if (!gtk_init_check (argc, argv))
     meta_fatal ("Unable to open X display %s\n", XDisplayName (NULL));
 
+#ifdef WITH_CLUTTER
+  /*
+   * NB: clutter must be initialized *after* the display connection is opened
+   *     and *before* we enable the compositor.
+   */
+  clutter_x11_set_display (gdk_display);
+  clutter_x11_disable_event_retrieval ();
+  clutter_init (argc, argv);
+#endif
+
+
   meta_stock_icons_init ();
 }