--- a/modules/libpref/src/init/all.js
+++ b/modules/libpref/src/init/all.js
@@ -2803,16 +2803,19 @@ pref("network.tcp.sendbuffer", 131072);
 #ifdef WINCE
 pref("mozilla.widget.disable-native-theme", true);
 pref("gfx.color_management.mode", 0);
 #endif
 
 // Initialize default render-mode.
 pref("mozilla.widget.render-mode", -1);
 
+// Initialize default accelerated layers
+pref("mozilla.widget.accelerated-layers", true);
+
 // Enable/Disable the geolocation API for content
 pref("geo.enabled", true);
 
 // Enable/Disable the orientation API for content
 pref("accelerometer.enabled", true);
 
 // Enable/Disable HTML5 parser
 pref("html5.enable", true);

--- a/widget/src/xpwidgets/nsBaseWidget.cpp
+++ b/widget/src/xpwidgets/nsBaseWidget.cpp
@@ -656,17 +656,25 @@ nsBaseWidget::AutoLayerManagerSetup::~Au
       "AutoLayerManagerSetup instantiated for non-basic layer backend!");
     manager->SetDefaultTarget(nsnull);
   }
 }
 
 LayerManager* nsBaseWidget::GetLayerManager()
 {
   if (!mLayerManager) {
-    if (mUseAcceleratedRendering) {
+    nsCOMPtr<nsIPrefBranch2> prefs = do_GetService(NS_PREFSERVICE_CONTRACTID);
+
+    PRBool allowAcceleration = PR_TRUE;
+    if (prefs) {
+      prefs->GetBoolPref("mozilla.widget.accelerated-layers",
+                         &allowAcceleration);
+    }
+
+    if (mUseAcceleratedRendering && allowAcceleration) {
       nsRefPtr<LayerManagerOGL> layerManager =
         new mozilla::layers::LayerManagerOGL(this);
       /**
        * XXX - On several OSes initialization is expected to fail for now.
        * If we'd get a none-basic layer manager they'd crash. This is ok though
        * since on those platforms it will fail. Anyone implementing new
        * platforms on LayerManagerOGL should ensure their widget is able to
        * deal with it though!