diff --git a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
index 29d4eb508..bcaa44698 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
@@ -2018,6 +2018,13 @@ cogl_framebuffer_remove_swap_buffers_callback (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
   winsys->onscreen_remove_swap_buffers_callback (onscreen, id);
 }
 
+void
+cogl_framebuffer_finish (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer)
+{
+  _cogl_framebuffer_flush_journal (framebuffer);
+  GE (framebuffer->context, glFinish ());
+}
+
 void
 cogl_onscreen_set_swap_throttled (CoglOnscreen *onscreen,
                                   gboolean throttled)
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.h b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.h
index ad4d1e4ea..e168e6d04 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.h
@@ -561,6 +561,25 @@ void
 cogl_framebuffer_remove_swap_buffers_callback (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
                                                unsigned int id);
 
+/**
+ * cogl_framebuffer_finish:
+ * @framebuffer: A #CoglFramebuffer pointer
+ *
+ * This blocks the CPU until all pending rendering associated with the
+ * specified framebuffer has completed. It's very rare that developers should
+ * ever need this level of synchronization with the GPU and should never be
+ * used unless you clearly understand why you need to explicitly force
+ * synchronization.
+ *
+ * One example might be for benchmarking purposes to be sure timing
+ * measurements reflect the time that the GPU is busy for not just the time it
+ * takes to queue rendering commands.
+ *
+ * Stability: unstable
+ * Since: 1.10
+ */
+void
+cogl_framebuffer_finish (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer);
 
 typedef struct _CoglOnscreen CoglOnscreen;
 #define COGL_ONSCREEN(X) ((CoglOnscreen *)(X))
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 571c84bad..c3a9679f6 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
@@ -332,6 +332,7 @@ cogl_framebuffer_swap_buffers
 cogl_framebuffer_swap_region
 cogl_framebuffer_add_swap_buffers_callback
 cogl_framebuffer_remove_swap_buffers_callback
+cogl_framebuffer_finish
 
 <SUBSECTION>
 cogl_get_draw_framebuffer