diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-2d-sliced.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-2d-sliced.c
index 0cfef1f58..b7a7bd7af 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-2d-sliced.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-2d-sliced.c
@@ -829,8 +829,7 @@ _cogl_texture_2d_sliced_slices_create (CoglTexture2DSliced *tex_2ds,
    *  re-binding between textures inside a set) */
   gl_handles = (GLuint*) tex_2ds->slice_gl_handles->data;
 
-  GE( glGenTextures (n_slices, gl_handles) );
-
+  _cogl_texture_driver_gen (GL_TEXTURE_2D, n_slices, gl_handles);
 
   /* Init each GL texture object */
   for (y = 0; y < n_y_slices; ++y)
@@ -917,9 +916,9 @@ _cogl_texture_2d_sliced_upload_from_data
   tex_2ds->slice_y_spans = NULL;
   tex_2ds->slice_gl_handles = NULL;
 
-  /* Unknown filter */
-  tex_2ds->min_filter = GL_FALSE;
-  tex_2ds->mag_filter = GL_FALSE;
+  /* We default to GL_LINEAR for both filters */
+  tex_2ds->min_filter = GL_LINEAR;
+  tex_2ds->mag_filter = GL_LINEAR;
 
   if (bmp->data)
     {
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-2d.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-2d.c
index 8d32e310e..b700eb19f 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-2d.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-2d.c
@@ -225,9 +225,9 @@ _cogl_texture_2d_create_base (unsigned int     width,
   tex_2d->mipmaps_dirty = TRUE;
   tex_2d->auto_mipmap = (flags & COGL_TEXTURE_NO_AUTO_MIPMAP) == 0;
 
-  /* Unknown filter */
-  tex_2d->min_filter = GL_FALSE;
-  tex_2d->mag_filter = GL_FALSE;
+  /* We default to GL_LINEAR for both filters */
+  tex_2d->min_filter = GL_LINEAR;
+  tex_2d->mag_filter = GL_LINEAR;
 
   /* Wrap mode not yet set */
   tex_2d->wrap_mode = GL_FALSE;
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ _cogl_texture_2d_new_with_size (unsigned int     width,
   tex_2d = _cogl_texture_2d_create_base (width, height, flags, internal_format);
 
   GE( glGenTextures (1, &tex_2d->gl_texture) );
+  GE( glTexParameteri (GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, GL_LINEAR) );
   GE( glBindTexture (GL_TEXTURE_2D, tex_2d->gl_texture) );
   GE( glTexImage2D (GL_TEXTURE_2D, 0, gl_intformat,
                     width, height, 0, gl_format, gl_type, NULL) );
@@ -300,7 +301,7 @@ _cogl_texture_2d_new_from_bitmap (CoglHandle       bmp_handle,
                                          flags,
                                          internal_format);
 
-  GE( glGenTextures (1, &tex_2d->gl_texture) );
+  _cogl_texture_driver_gen (GL_TEXTURE_2D, 1, &tex_2d->gl_texture);
   _cogl_texture_driver_upload_to_gl (GL_TEXTURE_2D,
                                      tex_2d->gl_texture,
                                      &dst_bmp,
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-driver.h b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-driver.h
index 6961659d8..5f08cfba9 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-driver.h
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/cogl-texture-driver.h
@@ -24,6 +24,15 @@
 #ifndef __COGL_TEXTURE_DRIVER_H
 #define __COGL_TEXTURE_DRIVER_H
 
+/*
+ * A very small wrapper around glGenTextures() that ensures we default to
+ * non-mipmap filters when creating textures. This is to save some memory as
+ * the driver will not allocate room for the mipmap tree.
+ */
+void
+_cogl_texture_driver_gen (GLenum   gl_target,
+                          GLsizei  n,
+                          GLuint  *textures);
 /*
  * Basically just a wrapper around glBindTexture, but the GLES2 backend
  * for example also wants to know about the internal format so it can
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-texture-driver.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-texture-driver.c
index f1fe59a2f..5d7c9f864 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-texture-driver.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-texture-driver.c
@@ -47,6 +47,33 @@
 
 #define glGenerateMipmap ctx->drv.pf_glGenerateMipmap
 
+void
+_cogl_texture_driver_gen (GLenum   gl_target,
+                          GLsizei  n,
+                          GLuint  *textures)
+{
+  guint i;
+
+  GE (glGenTextures (n, textures));
+
+  for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
+    {
+      GE (glBindTexture (gl_target, textures[i]));
+
+      switch (gl_target)
+        {
+      case GL_TEXTURE_2D:
+        /* GL_TEXTURE_MAG_FILTER defaults to GL_LINEAR, no need to set it */
+        GE( glTexParameteri (GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, GL_LINEAR) );
+        break;
+
+      default:
+        g_assert_not_reached();
+        }
+
+    }
+}
+
 void
 _cogl_texture_driver_bind (GLenum gl_target,
                            GLuint gl_handle,
diff --git a/clutter/cogl/cogl/driver/gles/cogl-texture-driver.c b/clutter/cogl/cogl/driver/gles/cogl-texture-driver.c
index 62324f58c..41cc9a822 100644
--- a/clutter/cogl/cogl/driver/gles/cogl-texture-driver.c
+++ b/clutter/cogl/cogl/driver/gles/cogl-texture-driver.c
@@ -47,6 +47,33 @@
 
 #include "cogl-gles2-wrapper.h"
 
+void
+_cogl_texture_driver_gen (GLenum   gl_target,
+                          GLsizei  n,
+                          GLuint  *textures)
+{
+  guint i;
+
+  GE (glGenTextures (n, textures));
+
+  for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
+    {
+      GE (glBindTexture (gl_target, textures[i]));
+
+      switch (gl_target)
+        {
+      case GL_TEXTURE_2D:
+        /* GL_TEXTURE_MAG_FILTER defaults to GL_LINEAR, no need to set it */
+        GE( glTexParameteri (GL_TEXTURE_2D, GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, GL_LINEAR) );
+        break;
+
+      default:
+        g_assert_not_reached();
+        }
+
+    }
+}
+
 
 void
 _cogl_texture_driver_bind (GLenum gl_target,