diff --git a/src/compositor/meta-compositor-view-native.c b/src/compositor/meta-compositor-view-native.c
index dfe14bcd0..f56ca4fbb 100644
--- a/src/compositor/meta-compositor-view-native.c
+++ b/src/compositor/meta-compositor-view-native.c
@@ -163,6 +163,9 @@ find_scanout_candidate (MetaCompositorView  *compositor_view,
   ClutterColorState *surface_color_state;
   MetaWaylandSurface *surface;
 
+  if (meta_get_debug_paint_flags () & META_DEBUG_PAINT_DISABLE_DIRECT_SCANOUT)
+    return FALSE;
+
   if (meta_compositor_is_unredirect_inhibited (compositor))
     {
       meta_topic (META_DEBUG_RENDER,
diff --git a/src/meta/util.h b/src/meta/util.h
index 91ca6a836..a502b6a9a 100644
--- a/src/meta/util.h
+++ b/src/meta/util.h
@@ -53,12 +53,14 @@ void meta_fatal      (const char *format,
  * @META_DEBUG_PAINT_OPAQUE_REGION: paint opaque regions
  * @META_DEBUG_PAINT_SYNC_CURSOR_PRIMARY: make cursor updates await compositing
  *   frames
+ * @META_DEBUG_PAINT_DISABLE_DIRECT_SCANOUT: always composite frames
  */
 typedef enum
 {
   META_DEBUG_PAINT_NONE          = 0,
   META_DEBUG_PAINT_OPAQUE_REGION = 1 << 0,
   META_DEBUG_PAINT_SYNC_CURSOR_PRIMARY = 1 << 1,
+  META_DEBUG_PAINT_DISABLE_DIRECT_SCANOUT = 1 << 2,
 } MetaDebugPaintFlag;
 
 META_EXPORT