diff --git a/cogl/cogl-attribute-buffer.c b/cogl/cogl-attribute-buffer.c
index 981c93ea2..a627fac6a 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-attribute-buffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-attribute-buffer.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include "cogl-object-private.h"
 #include "cogl-attribute-buffer.h"
 #include "cogl-attribute-buffer-private.h"
+#include "cogl-context-private.h"
 
 static void _cogl_attribute_buffer_free (CoglAttributeBuffer *array);
 
@@ -43,7 +44,9 @@ cogl_attribute_buffer_new (gsize bytes, const void *data)
   CoglAttributeBuffer *array = g_slice_new (CoglAttributeBuffer);
   gboolean use_malloc;
 
-  if (!cogl_features_available (COGL_FEATURE_VBOS))
+  _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctx, NULL);
+
+  if (!(ctx->private_feature_flags & COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_VBOS))
     use_malloc = TRUE;
   else
     use_malloc = FALSE;
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-context.c b/cogl/cogl-context.c
index 4c75c36f1..452c67534 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-context.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-context.c
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ static void
 _cogl_init_feature_overrides (CoglContext *ctx)
 {
   if (G_UNLIKELY (COGL_DEBUG_ENABLED (COGL_DEBUG_DISABLE_VBOS)))
-    ctx->feature_flags &= ~COGL_FEATURE_VBOS;
+    ctx->private_feature_flags &= ~COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_VBOS;
 
   if (G_UNLIKELY (COGL_DEBUG_ENABLED (COGL_DEBUG_DISABLE_PBOS)))
     ctx->private_feature_flags &= ~COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_PBOS;
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-index-buffer.c b/cogl/cogl-index-buffer.c
index 2471550a2..48c2c423a 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-index-buffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-index-buffer.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include "cogl-object-private.h"
 #include "cogl-indices.h"
 #include "cogl-indices-private.h"
+#include "cogl-context-private.h"
 
 static void _cogl_index_buffer_free (CoglIndexBuffer *indices);
 
@@ -46,7 +47,9 @@ cogl_index_buffer_new (gsize bytes)
   CoglIndexBuffer *indices = g_slice_new (CoglIndexBuffer);
   gboolean use_malloc;
 
-  if (!cogl_features_available (COGL_FEATURE_VBOS))
+  _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctx, NULL);
+
+  if (!(ctx->private_feature_flags & COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_VBOS))
     use_malloc = TRUE;
   else
     use_malloc = FALSE;
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-internal.h b/cogl/cogl-internal.h
index b67186896..946f8bca7 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-internal.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-internal.h
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ typedef enum
   COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_STENCIL_BUFFER = 1L<<2,
   COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_OFFSCREEN_BLIT = 1L<<3,
   COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_FOUR_CLIP_PLANES = 1L<<4,
-  COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_PBOS = 1L<<5
+  COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_PBOS = 1L<<5,
+  COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_VBOS = 1L<<6
 } CoglPrivateFeatureFlags;
 
 /* Sometimes when evaluating pipelines, either during comparisons or
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-journal.c b/cogl/cogl-journal.c
index c4a023863..cd2359b04 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-journal.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-journal.c
@@ -1118,10 +1118,12 @@ create_attribute_buffer (CoglJournal *journal,
 {
   CoglAttributeBuffer *vbo;
 
+  _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctx, NULL);
+
   /* If CoglBuffers are being emulated with malloc then there's not
      really any point in using the pool so we'll just allocate the
      buffer directly */
-  if (!cogl_features_available (COGL_FEATURE_VBOS))
+  if (!(ctx->private_feature_flags & COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_VBOS))
     return cogl_attribute_buffer_new (n_bytes, NULL);
 
   vbo = journal->vbo_pool[journal->next_vbo_in_pool];
diff --git a/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-gl.c b/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-gl.c
index f0a9c4e48..609e21d0b 100644
--- a/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-gl.c
+++ b/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-gl.c
@@ -213,9 +213,11 @@ _cogl_gl_update_features (CoglContext *context,
     flags |= COGL_FEATURE_SHADERS_GLSL;
 
   if (context->glGenBuffers)
-    flags |= (COGL_FEATURE_VBOS |
-              COGL_FEATURE_MAP_BUFFER_FOR_READ |
-              COGL_FEATURE_MAP_BUFFER_FOR_WRITE);
+    {
+      private_flags |= COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_VBOS;
+      flags |= (COGL_FEATURE_MAP_BUFFER_FOR_READ |
+                COGL_FEATURE_MAP_BUFFER_FOR_WRITE);
+    }
 
   if (_cogl_check_extension ("GL_ARB_texture_rectangle", gl_extensions))
     flags |= COGL_FEATURE_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE;
diff --git a/cogl/driver/gles/cogl-gles.c b/cogl/driver/gles/cogl-gles.c
index d203ba5dd..9b2f331da 100644
--- a/cogl/driver/gles/cogl-gles.c
+++ b/cogl/driver/gles/cogl-gles.c
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ _cogl_gles_update_features (CoglContext *context,
       flags |= COGL_FEATURE_DEPTH_RANGE;
     }
 
-  flags |= COGL_FEATURE_VBOS;
+  private_flags |= COGL_PRIVATE_FEATURE_VBOS;
 
   /* Both GLES 1.1 and GLES 2.0 support point sprites in core */
   flags |= COGL_FEATURE_POINT_SPRITE;