diff --git a/docs/reference/gtk/running.md b/docs/reference/gtk/running.md
index 879e23d2e9..3ddae2cc36 100644
--- a/docs/reference/gtk/running.md
+++ b/docs/reference/gtk/running.md
@@ -217,6 +217,10 @@ A number of options affect behavior instead of logging:
 `no-portals`
 : Disable use of [portals](https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/portals.html)
 
+`force-offload`
+: Force graphics offload for all textures, even when slower. This allows
+  to debug offloading in the absence of dmabufs.
+
 `gl-disable`
 : Disable OpenGL support
 
diff --git a/gdk/gdk.c b/gdk/gdk.c
index 9787b437b8..95521522f2 100644
--- a/gdk/gdk.c
+++ b/gdk/gdk.c
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ static const GdkDebugKey gdk_debug_keys[] = {
 
   { "portals",         GDK_DEBUG_PORTALS, "Force use of portals" },
   { "no-portals",      GDK_DEBUG_NO_PORTALS, "Disable use of portals" },
+  { "force-offload",   GDK_DEBUG_FORCE_OFFLOAD, "Force graphics offload for all textures" },
   { "gl-disable",      GDK_DEBUG_GL_DISABLE, "Disable OpenGL support" },
   { "gl-no-fractional", GDK_DEBUG_GL_NO_FRACTIONAL, "Disable fractional scaling for OpenGL" },
   { "gl-debug",        GDK_DEBUG_GL_DEBUG, "Insert debugging information in OpenGL" },
diff --git a/gdk/gdkdebugprivate.h b/gdk/gdkdebugprivate.h
index ba709fb5e9..359f13e6fa 100644
--- a/gdk/gdkdebugprivate.h
+++ b/gdk/gdkdebugprivate.h
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ typedef enum {
   GDK_DEBUG_NO_PORTALS      = 1 << 15,
   GDK_DEBUG_GL_DISABLE      = 1 << 16,
   GDK_DEBUG_GL_NO_FRACTIONAL= 1 << 17,
-
+  GDK_DEBUG_FORCE_OFFLOAD   = 1 << 18,
   GDK_DEBUG_GL_DISABLE_GL   = 1 << 19,
   GDK_DEBUG_GL_DISABLE_GLES = 1 << 20,
   GDK_DEBUG_GL_PREFER_GL    = 1 << 21,
diff --git a/gdk/wayland/gdksubsurface-wayland.c b/gdk/wayland/gdksubsurface-wayland.c
index cecd10cb28..45d03daeea 100644
--- a/gdk/wayland/gdksubsurface-wayland.c
+++ b/gdk/wayland/gdksubsurface-wayland.c
@@ -50,6 +50,48 @@ gdk_wayland_subsurface_finalize (GObject *object)
   G_OBJECT_CLASS (gdk_wayland_subsurface_parent_class)->finalize (object);
 }
 
+static void
+shm_buffer_release (void             *data,
+                    struct wl_buffer *buffer)
+{
+  cairo_surface_t *surface = data;
+
+  /* Note: the wl_buffer is destroyed as cairo user data */
+  cairo_surface_destroy (surface);
+}
+
+static const struct wl_buffer_listener shm_buffer_listener = {
+  shm_buffer_release,
+};
+
+static struct wl_buffer *
+get_shm_wl_buffer (GdkWaylandSubsurface *self,
+                   GdkTexture           *texture)
+{
+  GdkWaylandDisplay *display = GDK_WAYLAND_DISPLAY (gdk_surface_get_display (GDK_SUBSURFACE (self)->parent));
+  int width, height;
+  cairo_surface_t *surface;
+  GdkTextureDownloader *downloader;
+  struct wl_buffer *buffer;
+
+  width = gdk_texture_get_width (texture);
+  height = gdk_texture_get_height (texture);
+  surface = gdk_wayland_display_create_shm_surface (display, width, height, &GDK_FRACTIONAL_SCALE_INIT_INT (1));
+
+  downloader = gdk_texture_downloader_new (texture);
+
+  gdk_texture_downloader_download_into (downloader,
+                                        cairo_image_surface_get_data (surface),
+                                        cairo_image_surface_get_stride (surface));
+
+  gdk_texture_downloader_free (downloader);
+
+  buffer = _gdk_wayland_shm_surface_get_wl_buffer (surface);
+  wl_buffer_add_listener (buffer, &shm_buffer_listener, surface);
+
+  return buffer;
+}
+
 static void
 dmabuf_buffer_release (void             *data,
                        struct wl_buffer *buffer)
@@ -96,8 +138,8 @@ static const struct zwp_linux_buffer_params_v1_listener params_listener = {
 };
 
 static struct wl_buffer *
-get_wl_buffer (GdkWaylandSubsurface *self,
-               GdkTexture           *texture)
+get_dmabuf_wl_buffer (GdkWaylandSubsurface *self,
+                      GdkTexture           *texture)
 {
   GdkWaylandDisplay *display = GDK_WAYLAND_DISPLAY (gdk_surface_get_display (GDK_SUBSURFACE (self)->parent));
   const GdkDmabuf *dmabuf;
@@ -148,6 +190,25 @@ get_wl_buffer (GdkWaylandSubsurface *self,
   return buffer;
 }
 
+static struct wl_buffer *
+get_wl_buffer (GdkWaylandSubsurface *self,
+               GdkTexture           *texture)
+{
+  GdkDisplay *display = gdk_surface_get_display (GDK_SUBSURFACE (self)->parent);
+  struct wl_buffer *buffer = NULL;
+
+  if (GDK_IS_DMABUF_TEXTURE (texture))
+    buffer = get_dmabuf_wl_buffer (self, texture);
+
+  if (GDK_DISPLAY_DEBUG_CHECK (display, FORCE_OFFLOAD))
+    {
+      if (!buffer)
+         buffer = get_shm_wl_buffer (self, texture);
+    }
+
+  return buffer;
+}
+
 static inline enum wl_output_transform
 gdk_texture_transform_to_wl (GdkTextureTransform transform)
 {
@@ -239,7 +300,8 @@ gdk_wayland_subsurface_attach (GdkSubsurface         *sub,
                          scale,
                          self);
     }
-  else if (!GDK_IS_DMABUF_TEXTURE (texture))
+  else if (!GDK_IS_DMABUF_TEXTURE (texture) &&
+           !GDK_DISPLAY_DEBUG_CHECK (gdk_surface_get_display (sub->parent), FORCE_OFFLOAD))
     {
       GDK_DISPLAY_DEBUG (gdk_surface_get_display (sub->parent), OFFLOAD,
                          "%dx%d %s is not a GdkDmabufTexture, hiding subsurface %p",