diff --git a/cogl/cogl-atlas-texture.c b/cogl/cogl-atlas-texture.c
index 975b1995a..4542cb300 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-atlas-texture.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-atlas-texture.c
@@ -384,7 +384,6 @@ _cogl_atlas_texture_migrate_out_of_atlas (CoglAtlasTexture *atlas_tex)
                                 atlas_tex->rectangle.y + 1,
                                 atlas_tex->rectangle.width - 2,
                                 atlas_tex->rectangle.height - 2,
-                                COGL_TEXTURE_NO_ATLAS,
                                 atlas_tex->format);
   /* Note: we simply silently ignore failures to migrate a texture
    * out (most likely due to lack of memory) and hope for the
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-atlas.c b/cogl/cogl-atlas.c
index d6c0e74f1..23f430b91 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-atlas.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-atlas.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "cogl-context-private.h"
 #include "cogl-texture-private.h"
 #include "cogl-texture-2d-private.h"
+#include "cogl-texture-2d-sliced.h"
 #include "cogl-texture-driver.h"
 #include "cogl-pipeline-opengl-private.h"
 #include "cogl-debug.h"
@@ -541,13 +542,58 @@ _cogl_atlas_remove (CoglAtlas *atlas,
                     _cogl_rectangle_map_get_height (atlas->map)));
 };
 
+static CoglTexture *
+create_migration_texture (CoglContext *ctx,
+                          int width,
+                          int height,
+                          CoglPixelFormat internal_format)
+{
+  CoglTexture *tex;
+  CoglError *skip_error = NULL;
+
+  if ((_cogl_util_is_pot (width) && _cogl_util_is_pot (height)) ||
+      (cogl_has_feature (ctx, COGL_FEATURE_ID_TEXTURE_NPOT_BASIC) &&
+       cogl_has_feature (ctx, COGL_FEATURE_ID_TEXTURE_NPOT_MIPMAP)))
+    {
+      /* First try creating a fast-path non-sliced texture */
+      tex = COGL_TEXTURE (cogl_texture_2d_new_with_size (ctx,
+                                                         width, height,
+                                                         internal_format));
+
+      /* TODO: instead of allocating storage here it would be better
+       * if we had some api that let us just check that the size is
+       * supported by the hardware so storage could be allocated
+       * lazily when uploading data. */
+      if (!cogl_texture_allocate (tex, &skip_error))
+        {
+          cogl_error_free (skip_error);
+          cogl_object_unref (tex);
+          tex = NULL;
+        }
+    }
+  else
+    tex = NULL;
+
+  if (!tex)
+    {
+      CoglTexture2DSliced *tex_2ds =
+        cogl_texture_2d_sliced_new_with_size (ctx,
+                                              width,
+                                              height,
+                                              COGL_TEXTURE_MAX_WASTE,
+                                              internal_format);
+      tex = COGL_TEXTURE (tex_2ds);
+    }
+
+  return tex;
+}
+
 CoglTexture *
 _cogl_atlas_copy_rectangle (CoglAtlas *atlas,
                             int x,
                             int y,
                             int width,
                             int height,
-                            CoglTextureFlags flags,
                             CoglPixelFormat format)
 {
   CoglTexture *tex;
@@ -557,7 +603,7 @@ _cogl_atlas_copy_rectangle (CoglAtlas *atlas,
   _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctx, NULL);
 
   /* Create a new texture at the right size */
-  tex = cogl_texture_new_with_size (width, height, flags, format);
+  tex = create_migration_texture (ctx, width, height, format);
   if (!cogl_texture_allocate (tex, &ignore_error))
     {
       cogl_error_free (ignore_error);
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-atlas.h b/cogl/cogl-atlas.h
index 85e0aab51..52530a905 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-atlas.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-atlas.h
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@ _cogl_atlas_copy_rectangle (CoglAtlas *atlas,
                             int y,
                             int width,
                             int height,
-                            CoglTextureFlags flags,
                             CoglPixelFormat format);
 
 void
diff --git a/cogl/winsys/cogl-texture-pixmap-x11.c b/cogl/winsys/cogl-texture-pixmap-x11.c
index 71d00ea95..18f73737d 100644
--- a/cogl/winsys/cogl-texture-pixmap-x11.c
+++ b/cogl/winsys/cogl-texture-pixmap-x11.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "cogl-texture-private.h"
 #include "cogl-texture-driver.h"
 #include "cogl-texture-2d-private.h"
+#include "cogl-texture-2d-sliced.h"
 #include "cogl-texture-rectangle-private.h"
 #include "cogl-context-private.h"
 #include "cogl-display-private.h"
@@ -489,6 +490,52 @@ cogl_texture_pixmap_x11_set_damage_object (CoglTexturePixmapX11 *tex_pixmap,
     set_damage_object_internal (ctxt, tex_pixmap, damage, report_level);
 }
 
+static CoglTexture *
+create_fallback_texture (CoglContext *ctx,
+                         int width,
+                         int height,
+                         CoglPixelFormat internal_format)
+{
+  CoglTexture *tex;
+  CoglError *skip_error = NULL;
+
+  if ((_cogl_util_is_pot (width) && _cogl_util_is_pot (height)) ||
+      (cogl_has_feature (ctx, COGL_FEATURE_ID_TEXTURE_NPOT_BASIC) &&
+       cogl_has_feature (ctx, COGL_FEATURE_ID_TEXTURE_NPOT_MIPMAP)))
+    {
+      /* First try creating a fast-path non-sliced texture */
+      tex = COGL_TEXTURE (cogl_texture_2d_new_with_size (ctx,
+                                                         width, height,
+                                                         internal_format));
+
+      /* TODO: instead of allocating storage here it would be better
+       * if we had some api that let us just check that the size is
+       * supported by the hardware so storage could be allocated
+       * lazily when uploading data. */
+      if (!cogl_texture_allocate (tex, &skip_error))
+        {
+          cogl_error_free (skip_error);
+          cogl_object_unref (tex);
+          tex = NULL;
+        }
+    }
+  else
+    tex = NULL;
+
+  if (!tex)
+    {
+      CoglTexture2DSliced *tex_2ds =
+        cogl_texture_2d_sliced_new_with_size (ctx,
+                                              width,
+                                              height,
+                                              COGL_TEXTURE_MAX_WASTE,
+                                              internal_format);
+      tex = COGL_TEXTURE (tex_2ds);
+    }
+
+  return tex;
+}
+
 static void
 _cogl_texture_pixmap_x11_update_image_texture (CoglTexturePixmapX11 *tex_pixmap)
 {
@@ -528,10 +575,10 @@ _cogl_texture_pixmap_x11_update_image_texture (CoglTexturePixmapX11 *tex_pixmap)
                         ? COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888_PRE
                         : COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGB_888);
 
-      tex_pixmap->tex = cogl_texture_new_with_size (tex->width,
-                                                    tex->height,
-                                                    COGL_TEXTURE_NONE,
-                                                    texture_format);
+      tex_pixmap->tex = create_fallback_texture (ctx,
+                                                 tex->width,
+                                                 tex->height,
+                                                 texture_format);
     }
 
   if (tex_pixmap->image == NULL)