diff --git a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
index 8d4bbc3d1..fb8ddcf58 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ typedef struct
 {
   CoglSwapChain *swap_chain;
   gboolean need_stencil;
+  int samples_per_pixel;
 } CoglFramebufferConfig;
 
 struct _CoglFramebuffer
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-onscreen-template.c b/cogl/cogl-onscreen-template.c
index b9fbd2356..92caadea8 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-onscreen-template.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-onscreen-template.c
@@ -65,6 +65,24 @@ cogl_onscreen_template_new (CoglSwapChain *swap_chain)
     onscreen_template->config.swap_chain = cogl_swap_chain_new ();
 
   onscreen_template->config.need_stencil = TRUE;
+  onscreen_template->config.samples_per_pixel = 0;
+
+  user_config = getenv ("COGL_POINT_SAMPLES_PER_PIXEL");
+  if (user_config)
+    {
+      unsigned long samples_per_pixel = strtoul (user_config, NULL, 10);
+      if (samples_per_pixel != ULONG_MAX)
+        onscreen_template->config.samples_per_pixel =
+          samples_per_pixel;
+    }
 
   return _cogl_onscreen_template_object_new (onscreen_template);
 }
+
+void
+cogl_onscreen_template_set_samples_per_pixel (
+                                        CoglOnscreenTemplate *onscreen_template,
+                                        int samples_per_pixel)
+{
+  onscreen_template->config.samples_per_pixel = samples_per_pixel;
+}
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-onscreen-template.h b/cogl/cogl-onscreen-template.h
index 4769f9f1b..e992b7a11 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-onscreen-template.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-onscreen-template.h
@@ -43,6 +43,34 @@ typedef struct _CoglOnscreenTemplate	      CoglOnscreenTemplate;
 CoglOnscreenTemplate *
 cogl_onscreen_template_new (CoglSwapChain *swap_chain);
 
+/**
+ * cogl_onscreen_template_set_samples_per_pixel:
+ * @onscreen: A #CoglOnscreenTemplate template framebuffer
+ * @n: The minimum number of samples per pixel
+ *
+ * Requires that any future CoglOnscreen framebuffers derived from
+ * this template must support making at least @n samples per pixel
+ * which will all contribute to the final resolved color for that
+ * pixel.
+ *
+ * By default this value is usually set to 0 and that is referred to
+ * as "single-sample" rendering. A value of 1 or greater is referred
+ * to as "multisample" rendering.
+ *
+ * <note>There are some semantic differences between single-sample
+ * rendering and multisampling with just 1 point sample such as it
+ * being redundant to use the cogl_framebuffer_resolve_samples() and
+ * cogl_framebuffer_resolve_samples_region() apis with single-sample
+ * rendering.</note>
+ *
+ * Since: 1.10
+ * Stability: unstable
+ */
+void
+cogl_onscreen_template_set_samples_per_pixel (
+                                          CoglOnscreenTemplate *onscreen_template,
+                                          int n);
+
 G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /* __COGL_ONSCREEN_TEMPLATE_H__ */
diff --git a/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl.c b/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl.c
index 6b40fc387..5a9c93740 100644
--- a/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl.c
+++ b/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl.c
@@ -644,6 +644,14 @@ egl_attributes_from_framebuffer_config (CoglDisplay *display,
   attributes[i++] = EGL_SURFACE_TYPE;
   attributes[i++] = EGL_WINDOW_BIT;
 
+  if (config->samples_per_pixel)
+    {
+       attributes[i++] = EGL_SAMPLE_BUFFERS;
+       attributes[i++] = 1;
+       attributes[i++] = EGL_SAMPLES;
+       attributes[i++] = config->samples_per_pixel;
+    }
+
   attributes[i++] = EGL_NONE;
 
   g_assert (i < MAX_EGL_CONFIG_ATTRIBS);
diff --git a/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-glx.c b/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-glx.c
index 1a42605e1..8b645be59 100644
--- a/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-glx.c
+++ b/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-glx.c
@@ -485,6 +485,15 @@ glx_attributes_from_framebuffer_config (CoglDisplay *display,
   attributes[i++] = GLX_STENCIL_SIZE;
   attributes[i++] = config->need_stencil ? 1: GLX_DONT_CARE;
 
+  if (glx_renderer->glx_major == 1 && glx_renderer->glx_minor >= 4 &&
+      config->samples_per_pixel)
+    {
+       attributes[i++] = GLX_SAMPLE_BUFFERS;
+       attributes[i++] = 1;
+       attributes[i++] = GLX_SAMPLES;
+       attributes[i++] = config->samples_per_pixel;
+    }
+
   attributes[i++] = None;
 
   g_assert (i < MAX_GLX_CONFIG_ATTRIBS);
diff --git a/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-wgl.c b/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-wgl.c
index 8306f2784..3124bcd9c 100644
--- a/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-wgl.c
+++ b/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-wgl.c
@@ -324,6 +324,10 @@ choose_pixel_format (CoglFramebufferConfig *config,
 
   num_formats = DescribePixelFormat (dc, 0, sizeof (best_pfd), NULL);
 
+  /* XXX: currently we don't support multisampling on windows... */
+  if (config->samples_per_pixel)
+    return best_pf;
+
   for (i = 1; i <= num_formats; i++)
     {
       memset (pfd, 0, sizeof (*pfd));