diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2cbd713c4..4d1e81164 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -196,6 +196,15 @@ CAIRO_ENABLE_SURFACE_BACKEND(gl, gl, no, [
   gl_REQUIRES="gl"
   PKG_CHECK_MODULES(gl, $gl_REQUIRES, , [AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
   use_gl="no (requires gl.pc)"])
+
+  AC_CHECK_LIB(GLEW, glewInit, [
+    AC_CHECK_HEADER(GL/glew.h, [], [
+      have_gl="no (requires glew http://glew.sourceforge.net/)"
+    ])
+  ], [
+    have_gl="no (requires glew http://glew.sourceforge.net/)"
+  ])
+  gl_NONPKGCONFIG_LIBS="-lGLEW"
 ])
 
 dnl ===========================================================================
diff --git a/src/cairo-gl-surface.c b/src/cairo-gl-surface.c
index bf931ed92..a36f4bb8f 100644
--- a/src/cairo-gl-surface.c
+++ b/src/cairo-gl-surface.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 
 #include <X11/Xlib.h>
 
+#include <GL/glew.h>
 #define GL_GLEXT_PROTOTYPES
 #include <GL/glx.h>
 #include <GL/glext.h>
@@ -127,6 +128,7 @@ cairo_gl_context_t *
 cairo_gl_glx_context_create (Display *dpy, GLXContext gl_ctx)
 {
     cairo_gl_context_t *ctx;
+    GLenum err;
 
     ctx = calloc (1, sizeof(cairo_gl_context_t));
     if (ctx == NULL)
@@ -143,6 +145,17 @@ cairo_gl_glx_context_create (Display *dpy, GLXContext gl_ctx)
      */
     glXMakeCurrent(dpy, RootWindow (dpy, DefaultScreen (dpy)), gl_ctx);
 
+    err = glewInit();
+    if (err != GLEW_OK) {
+	free(ctx);
+	return NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (!GLEW_EXT_framebuffer_object || !GLEW_ARB_texture_env_combine) {
+	free(ctx);
+	return NULL;
+    }
+
     /* Set up the dummy texture for tex_env_combine with constant color. */
     glGenTextures (1, &ctx->dummy_tex);
     glBindTexture (GL_TEXTURE_2D, ctx->dummy_tex);