diff --git a/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.cpp b/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.cpp
index b0d20f4545..3783a21273 100644
--- a/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.cpp
+++ b/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.cpp
@@ -602,6 +602,7 @@ void GLPlatform::detect(OpenGLPlatformInterface platformInterface)
     }
 
     m_chipset = "Unknown";
+    m_preferBufferSubData = false;
 
 
     // Mesa classic drivers
@@ -794,8 +795,10 @@ void GLPlatform::detect(OpenGLPlatformInterface platformInterface)
         if (m_driver == Driver_NVidia && m_chipClass < NV40)
             m_supportsGLSL = false; // High likelihood of software emulation
 
-        if (m_driver == Driver_NVidia)
+        if (m_driver == Driver_NVidia) {
             m_looseBinding = true;
+            m_preferBufferSubData = true;
+        }
 
         if (m_chipClass < NV20) {
             m_recommendedCompositor = XRenderCompositing;
@@ -1051,6 +1054,11 @@ CompositingType GLPlatform::recommendedCompositor() const
     return m_recommendedCompositor;
 }
 
+bool GLPlatform::preferBufferSubData() const
+{
+    return m_preferBufferSubData;
+}
+
 bool GLPlatform::isGLES() const
 {
 #ifdef KWIN_HAVE_OPENGLES
diff --git a/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.h b/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.h
index 55e23f6545..36a0e15e16 100644
--- a/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.h
+++ b/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.h
@@ -307,6 +307,14 @@ public:
      **/
     CompositingType recommendedCompositor() const;
 
+    /**
+     * Returns true if glMapBufferRange() is likely to perform worse than glBufferSubData()
+     * when updating an unused range of a buffer object, and false otherwise.
+     *
+     * @since 4.11
+     */
+    bool preferBufferSubData() const;
+
     /**
      * @returns a human readable form of the @p version.
      * @since 4.9
@@ -359,6 +367,7 @@ private:
     bool m_textureNPOT: 1;
     bool m_limitedNPOT: 1;
     bool m_virtualMachine: 1;
+    bool m_preferBufferSubData: 1;
     static GLPlatform *s_platform;
 };