diff --git a/clutter/clutter-debug.h b/clutter/clutter-debug.h
index d7493f3de..8974954f8 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter-debug.h
+++ b/clutter/clutter-debug.h
@@ -7,24 +7,25 @@
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
 typedef enum {
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_MISC              = 1 << 0,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_ACTOR             = 1 << 1,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_TEXTURE           = 1 << 2,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_EVENT             = 1 << 3,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_PAINT             = 1 << 4,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_GL                = 1 << 5,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_ALPHA             = 1 << 6,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_BEHAVIOUR         = 1 << 7,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_PANGO             = 1 << 8,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_BACKEND           = 1 << 9,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_SCHEDULER         = 1 << 10,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_SCRIPT            = 1 << 11,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_SHADER            = 1 << 12,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_MULTISTAGE        = 1 << 13,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_ANIMATION         = 1 << 14,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_LAYOUT            = 1 << 15,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_NOP_PICKING       = 1 << 16,
-  CLUTTER_DEBUG_DUMP_PICK_BUFFERS = 1 << 17,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_MISC                = 1 << 0,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_ACTOR               = 1 << 1,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_TEXTURE             = 1 << 2,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_EVENT               = 1 << 3,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_PAINT               = 1 << 4,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_GL                  = 1 << 5,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_ALPHA               = 1 << 6,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_BEHAVIOUR           = 1 << 7,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_PANGO               = 1 << 8,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_BACKEND             = 1 << 9,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_SCHEDULER           = 1 << 10,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_SCRIPT              = 1 << 11,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_SHADER              = 1 << 12,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_MULTISTAGE          = 1 << 13,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_ANIMATION           = 1 << 14,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_LAYOUT              = 1 << 15,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_NOP_PICKING         = 1 << 16,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_DUMP_PICK_BUFFERS   = 1 << 17,
+  CLUTTER_DEBUG_DISABLE_SWAP_EVENTS = 1 << 18,
 } ClutterDebugFlag;
 
 #ifdef CLUTTER_ENABLE_DEBUG
diff --git a/clutter/clutter-main.c b/clutter/clutter-main.c
index 3c84c8b06..f48384909 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter-main.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter-main.c
@@ -162,7 +162,8 @@ static const GDebugKey clutter_debug_keys[] = {
   { "animation", CLUTTER_DEBUG_ANIMATION },
   { "layout", CLUTTER_DEBUG_LAYOUT },
   { "nop-picking", CLUTTER_DEBUG_NOP_PICKING },
-  { "dump-pick-buffers", CLUTTER_DEBUG_DUMP_PICK_BUFFERS }
+  { "dump-pick-buffers", CLUTTER_DEBUG_DUMP_PICK_BUFFERS },
+  { "disable-swap-events", CLUTTER_DEBUG_DISABLE_SWAP_EVENTS }
 };
 #endif /* CLUTTER_ENABLE_DEBUG */
 
diff --git a/clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c b/clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c
index 23410b8a5..fb5c8c088 100644
--- a/clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c
+++ b/clutter/glx/clutter-backend-glx.c
@@ -331,7 +331,8 @@ clutter_backend_glx_get_features (ClutterBackend *backend)
           /* GLX_INTEL_swap_event allows us to avoid blocking the CPU while
            * we wait for glXSwapBuffers to complete, and instead we get an X
            * event notifying us of completion... */
-          if (cogl_check_extension ("GLX_INTEL_swap_event", glx_extensions) &&
+          if (!(clutter_debug_flags & CLUTTER_DEBUG_DISABLE_SWAP_EVENTS) &&
+              cogl_check_extension ("GLX_INTEL_swap_event", glx_extensions) &&
               flags & CLUTTER_FEATURE_SYNC_TO_VBLANK)
             flags |= CLUTTER_FEATURE_SWAP_EVENTS;
 #endif /* GLX_INTEL_swap_event */