diff --git a/libs/surfaceflinger/GPUHardware/GPUHardware.cpp b/libs/surfaceflinger/GPUHardware/GPUHardware.cpp
index eb75f99..7168bf2 100644
--- a/libs/surfaceflinger/GPUHardware/GPUHardware.cpp
+++ b/libs/surfaceflinger/GPUHardware/GPUHardware.cpp
@@ -573,7 +573,11 @@
 
 sp<GPUHardwareInterface> GPUFactory::getGPU()
 {
-    return new GPUHardware();
+    sp<GPUHardwareInterface> gpu;
+    if (access("/dev/hw3d", F_OK) == 0) {
+        gpu = new GPUHardware();
+    }
+    return gpu;
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/libs/surfaceflinger/Layer.cpp b/libs/surfaceflinger/Layer.cpp
index f65d669..96395a8 100644
--- a/libs/surfaceflinger/Layer.cpp
+++ b/libs/surfaceflinger/Layer.cpp
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
     // we always force a 4-byte aligned bpr.
     uint32_t alignment = 1;
 
-    if (flags & ISurfaceComposer::eGPU) {
+    if ((flags & ISurfaceComposer::eGPU) && (mFlinger->getGPU() != 0)) {
         // FIXME: this value should come from the h/w
         alignment = 8; 
         // FIXME: this is msm7201A specific, as its GPU only supports
diff --git a/libs/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp b/libs/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
index de64f55..167a59b 100644
--- a/libs/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
+++ b/libs/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
@@ -241,6 +241,9 @@
 status_t SurfaceFlinger::requestGPU(const sp<IGPUCallback>& callback,
         gpu_info_t* gpu)
 {
+    if (mGPU == 0)
+        return INVALID_OPERATION;
+
     IPCThreadState* ipc = IPCThreadState::self();
     const int pid = ipc->getCallingPid();
     status_t err = mGPU->request(pid, callback, gpu);
@@ -249,6 +252,9 @@
 
 status_t SurfaceFlinger::revokeGPU()
 {
+    if (mGPU == 0)
+        return INVALID_OPERATION;
+
     return mGPU->friendlyRevoke();
 }
 
@@ -1600,10 +1606,14 @@
             }
             return NO_ERROR;
             case 1005: // ask GPU revoke
-                mGPU->friendlyRevoke();
+                if (mGPU != 0) {
+                    mGPU->friendlyRevoke();
+                }
                 return NO_ERROR;
             case 1006: // revoke GPU
-                mGPU->unconditionalRevoke();
+                if (mGPU != 0) {
+                    mGPU->unconditionalRevoke();
+                }
                 return NO_ERROR;
             case 1007: // set mFreezeCount
                 mFreezeCount = data.readInt32();
diff --git a/libs/surfaceflinger/VRamHeap.cpp b/libs/surfaceflinger/VRamHeap.cpp
index 0ccd71f..238c602 100644
--- a/libs/surfaceflinger/VRamHeap.cpp
+++ b/libs/surfaceflinger/VRamHeap.cpp
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
         }
     }
 
-    if (flags & ISurfaceComposer::eGPU) {
+    if ((flags & ISurfaceComposer::eGPU) && (mFlinger->getGPU() != 0)) {
         // FIXME: this is msm7201A specific, where gpu surfaces may not be secure
         if (!(flags & ISurfaceComposer::eSecure)) {
             // if GPU doesn't work, we try eHardware