diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-context-private.h b/cogl/cogl/cogl-context-private.h
index d0017e676..45b641782 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-context-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-context-private.h
@@ -79,14 +79,7 @@ struct _CoglContext
 
   int glsl_major;
   int glsl_minor;
-
-  /* This is the GLSL version that we will claim that snippets are
-   * written against using the #version pragma. This will be the
-   * largest version that is less than or equal to the version
-   * provided by the driver without massively altering the syntax. Eg,
-   * we wouldn't use version 1.3 even if it is available because that
-   * removes the ‘attribute’ and ‘varying’ keywords. */
-  int glsl_version_to_use;
+  gboolean glsl_es;
 
   /* Features cache */
   unsigned long features[COGL_FLAGS_N_LONGS_FOR_SIZE (_COGL_N_FEATURE_IDS)];
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-pipeline-vertend-glsl.c b/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-pipeline-vertend-glsl.c
index 299821263..1d23bbeb5 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-pipeline-vertend-glsl.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/cogl-pipeline-vertend-glsl.c
@@ -188,6 +188,17 @@ add_layer_fragment_boilerplate_cb (CoglPipelineLayer *layer,
   return TRUE;
 }
 
+static char *
+glsl_version_string (CoglContext *ctx)
+{
+  gboolean needs_es_annotation = ctx->glsl_es && ctx->glsl_major > 1;
+
+  return g_strdup_printf ("%d%02d%s",
+                          ctx->glsl_major,
+                          ctx->glsl_minor,
+                          needs_es_annotation ? " es" : "");
+}
+
 void
 _cogl_glsl_shader_set_source_with_boilerplate (CoglContext *ctx,
                                                GLuint shader_gl_handle,
@@ -202,16 +213,17 @@ _cogl_glsl_shader_set_source_with_boilerplate (CoglContext *ctx,
 
   const char **strings = g_alloca (sizeof (char *) * (count_in + 4));
   GLint *lengths = g_alloca (sizeof (GLint) * (count_in + 4));
-  char *version_string;
+  g_autofree char *glsl_version = NULL;
+  g_autofree char *version_string = NULL;
   int count = 0;
-
   int n_layers;
 
   vertex_boilerplate = _COGL_VERTEX_SHADER_BOILERPLATE;
   fragment_boilerplate = _COGL_FRAGMENT_SHADER_BOILERPLATE;
 
-  version_string = g_strdup_printf ("#version %i\n\n",
-                                    ctx->glsl_version_to_use);
+  glsl_version = glsl_version_string (ctx);
+  version_string = g_strdup_printf ("#version %s\n\n", glsl_version);
+
   strings[count] = version_string;
   lengths[count++] = -1;
 
@@ -308,8 +320,6 @@ _cogl_glsl_shader_set_source_with_boilerplate (CoglContext *ctx,
 
   GE( ctx, glShaderSource (shader_gl_handle, count,
                            (const char **) strings, lengths) );
-
-  g_free (version_string);
 }
 GLuint
 _cogl_pipeline_vertend_glsl_get_shader (CoglPipeline *pipeline)
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/gl/cogl-driver-gl.c b/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/gl/cogl-driver-gl.c
index 586d07285..3bc20aab6 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/gl/cogl-driver-gl.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/gl/cogl-driver-gl.c
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ _cogl_driver_update_features (CoglContext  *ctx,
 
   ctx->glsl_major = 1;
   ctx->glsl_minor = 40;
-  ctx->glsl_version_to_use = 140;
+  ctx->glsl_es = FALSE;
 
   if (!check_glsl_version (ctx, error))
     return FALSE;
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/gles/cogl-driver-gles.c b/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/gles/cogl-driver-gles.c
index ad8fc65bd..74e635a7a 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/gles/cogl-driver-gles.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/driver/gl/gles/cogl-driver-gles.c
@@ -663,7 +663,7 @@ _cogl_driver_update_features (CoglContext  *context,
 
   context->glsl_major = 1;
   context->glsl_minor = 0;
-  context->glsl_version_to_use = 100;
+  context->glsl_es = TRUE;
 
   if (!check_glsl_version (context, error))
     return FALSE;