diff --git a/clutter/clutter-feature.c b/clutter/clutter-feature.c
index b181c52cb..1ec6876d4 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter-feature.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter-feature.c
@@ -102,6 +102,9 @@ _clutter_feature_init (void)
 
   context = _clutter_context_get_default ();
 
+  /* makes sure we have a GL context; if we have, this is a no-op */
+  _clutter_backend_create_context (context->backend, NULL);
+
   __features->flags = (_clutter_features_from_cogl (cogl_get_features ())
                     | _clutter_backend_get_features (context->backend));