diff --git a/cogl/cogl-material-private.h b/cogl/cogl-material-private.h
index 54b14b8e5..451aaebbe 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-material-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-material-private.h
@@ -721,10 +721,6 @@ _cogl_material_layer_get_filters (CoglMaterialLayer *layer,
                                   CoglMaterialFilter *min_filter,
                                   CoglMaterialFilter *mag_filter);
 
-void
-_cogl_material_set_user_program (CoglMaterial *material,
-                                 CoglHandle program);
-
 void
 _cogl_material_texture_storage_change_notify (CoglHandle texture);
 
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-material.c b/cogl/cogl-material.c
index 58aa2e13d..f6e5f257a 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-material.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-material.c
@@ -3975,6 +3975,19 @@ cogl_material_set_blend_constant (CoglMaterial *material,
 #endif
 }
 
+CoglHandle
+cogl_material_get_user_program (CoglMaterial *material)
+{
+  CoglMaterial *authority;
+
+  g_return_val_if_fail (cogl_is_material (material), COGL_INVALID_HANDLE);
+
+  authority =
+    _cogl_material_get_authority (material, COGL_MATERIAL_STATE_USER_SHADER);
+
+  return authority->big_state->user_program;
+}
+
 /* XXX: for now we don't mind if the program has vertex shaders
  * attached but if we ever make a similar API public we should only
  * allow attaching of programs containing fragment shaders. Eventually
@@ -3982,8 +3995,8 @@ cogl_material_set_blend_constant (CoglMaterial *material,
  * processing.
  */
 void
-_cogl_material_set_user_program (CoglMaterial *material,
-                                 CoglHandle program)
+cogl_material_set_user_program (CoglMaterial *material,
+                                CoglHandle program)
 {
   CoglMaterialState state = COGL_MATERIAL_STATE_USER_SHADER;
   CoglMaterial *authority;
@@ -5125,8 +5138,11 @@ _cogl_material_apply_legacy_state (CoglMaterial *material)
    * the cogl_material API instead.
    */
 
-  if (ctx->current_program)
-    _cogl_material_set_user_program (material, ctx->current_program);
+  /* A program explicitly set on the material has higher precedence than
+   * one associated with the context using cogl_program_use() */
+  if (ctx->current_program &&
+      cogl_material_get_user_program (material) == COGL_INVALID_HANDLE)
+    cogl_material_set_user_program (material, ctx->current_program);
 
   if (ctx->legacy_depth_test_enabled)
     cogl_material_set_depth_test_enabled (material, TRUE);
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-material.h b/cogl/cogl-material.h
index 989c8cedc..ef5b76a9b 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-material.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-material.h
@@ -636,6 +636,70 @@ cogl_material_set_point_size (CoglHandle material,
 float
 cogl_material_get_point_size (CoglHandle  material);
 
+/**
+ * cogl_material_get_user_program:
+ * @material: a #CoglMaterial object.
+ *
+ * Queries what user program has been associated with the given
+ * @material using cogl_material_set_user_program().
+ *
+ * Return value: The current user program or %COGL_INVALID_HANDLE.
+ *
+ * Since: 1.4
+ */
+CoglHandle
+cogl_material_get_user_program (CoglMaterial *material);
+
+/**
+ * cogl_material_set_user_program:
+ * @material: a #CoglMaterial object.
+ * @program: A #CoglHandle to a linked CoglProgram
+ *
+ * Associates a linked CoglProgram with the given material so that the
+ * program can take full control of vertex and/or fragment processing.
+ *
+ * This is an example of how it can be used to associate an ARBfp
+ * program with a #CoglMaterial:
+ * |[
+ * CoglHandle shader;
+ * CoglHandle program;
+ * CoglMaterial *material;
+ *
+ * shader = cogl_create_shader (COGL_SHADER_TYPE_FRAGMENT);
+ * cogl_shader_source (shader,
+ *                     "!!ARBfp1.0\n"
+ *                     "MOV result.color,fragment.color;\n"
+ *                     "END\n");
+ * cogl_shader_compile (shader);
+ *
+ * program = cogl_create_program ();
+ * cogl_program_attach_shader (program, shader);
+ * cogl_program_link (program);
+ *
+ * material = cogl_material_new ();
+ * cogl_material_set_user_program (material, program);
+ *
+ * cogl_set_source_color4ub (0xff, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff);
+ * cogl_rectangle (0, 0, 100, 100);
+ * ]|
+ *
+ * It is possibly worth keeping in mind that this API is not part of
+ * the long term design for how we want to expose shaders to Cogl
+ * developers (We are planning on deprecating the cogl_program and
+ * cogl_shader APIs in favour of a "snippet" framework) but in the
+ * meantime we hope this will handle most practical GLSL and ARBfp
+ * requirements.
+ *
+ * Also remember you need to check for either the
+ * %COGL_FEATURE_SHADERS_GLSL or %COGL_FEATURE_SHADERS_ARBFP before
+ * using the cogl_program or cogl_shader API.
+ *
+ * Since: 1.4
+ */
+void
+cogl_material_set_user_program (CoglMaterial *material,
+                                CoglHandle program);
+
 /**
  * cogl_material_set_layer:
  * @material: A #CoglMaterial object