diff --git a/gfx/layers/opengl/CompositorOGL.cpp b/gfx/layers/opengl/CompositorOGL.cpp
index c7fd32ee827..72f51c4f4f4 100644
--- a/gfx/layers/opengl/CompositorOGL.cpp
+++ b/gfx/layers/opengl/CompositorOGL.cpp
@@ -48,10 +48,6 @@
 #endif
 #include "GeckoProfiler.h"
 
-#ifdef MOZ_WIDGET_ANDROID
-#include "GfxInfo.h"
-#endif
-
 #define BUFFER_OFFSET(i) ((char *)nullptr + (i))
 
 namespace mozilla {
@@ -393,10 +389,6 @@ CompositorOGL::Initialize()
 #ifdef MOZ_WIDGET_ANDROID
   if (!mGLContext)
     NS_RUNTIMEABORT("We need a context on Android");
-
-  // on Android, the compositor's GLContext is used to get GL strings for GfxInfo
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIGfxInfo> gfxInfo = do_GetService("@mozilla.org/gfx/info;1");
-  static_cast<widget::GfxInfo*>(gfxInfo.get())->InitializeGLStrings(mGLContext);
 #endif
 
   if (!mGLContext)
diff --git a/widget/android/GfxInfo.cpp b/widget/android/GfxInfo.cpp
index 65d23f6b2fc..63bfbf43b78 100644
--- a/widget/android/GfxInfo.cpp
+++ b/widget/android/GfxInfo.cpp
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@
 
 #include "GfxInfo.h"
 #include "GLContext.h"
+#include "GLContextProvider.h"
 #include "nsUnicharUtils.h"
 #include "prenv.h"
 #include "prprf.h"
 #include "nsHashKeys.h"
 #include "nsVersionComparator.h"
-#include "mozilla/Monitor.h"
 #include "AndroidBridge.h"
 #include "nsIWindowWatcher.h"
 #include "nsServiceManagerUtils.h"
@@ -24,36 +24,16 @@
 namespace mozilla {
 namespace widget {
 
-static bool ExpectGLStringsToEverGetInitialized()
-{
-  // In XPCShell, we don't have a compositor, so our GL strings will never get
-  // properly initialized.
-  // We need to know about that in GLStrings::EnsureInitialized to avoid waiting forever.
-  // The way we detect that we won't ever have a compositor, is that the nsWindowWatcher
-  // doesn't have a WindowCreator i.e. we won't create any windows. That is actually
-  // the root difference between xpcshell and real browsers, that causes the former
-  // not to create a window and a compositor.
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIWindowWatcher> wwatch(do_GetService(NS_WINDOWWATCHER_CONTRACTID));
-  if (!wwatch) {
-    return false;
-  }
-  bool hasWindowCreator = false;
-  nsresult rv = wwatch->HasWindowCreator(&hasWindowCreator);
-  return NS_SUCCEEDED(rv) && hasWindowCreator;
-}
-
 class GfxInfo::GLStrings
 {
   nsCString mVendor;
   nsCString mRenderer;
   nsCString mVersion;
   bool mReady;
-  Monitor mMonitor;
 
 public:
   GLStrings()
     : mReady(false)
-    , mMonitor("GfxInfo::mGLStringsMonitor")
   {}
 
   const nsCString& Vendor() {
@@ -88,45 +68,31 @@ public:
 
   void EnsureInitialized() {
     if (!mReady) {
-      MonitorAutoLock autoLock(mMonitor);
-      // re-check mReady, as it could have changed before we locked.
-      if (!mReady) {
-        if (ExpectGLStringsToEverGetInitialized()) {
-          mMonitor.Wait();
-        } else {
-          // we'll never get notified, so don't wait. Just go on
-          // with empty GL strings.
-          mReady = true;
-        }
-      }
+      nsRefPtr<gl::GLContext> gl = gl::GLContextProvider::CreateOffscreen(
+        gfxIntSize(1, 1),
+        gfx::SurfaceCaps::ForRGB());
+
+      gl->MakeCurrent();
+
+      const char *spoofedVendor = PR_GetEnv("MOZ_GFX_SPOOF_GL_VENDOR");
+      if (spoofedVendor)
+          mVendor.Assign(spoofedVendor);
+      else
+          mVendor.Assign((const char*)gl->fGetString(LOCAL_GL_VENDOR));
+      const char *spoofedRenderer = PR_GetEnv("MOZ_GFX_SPOOF_GL_RENDERER");
+      if (spoofedRenderer)
+          mRenderer.Assign(spoofedRenderer);
+      else
+          mRenderer.Assign((const char*)gl->fGetString(LOCAL_GL_RENDERER));
+      const char *spoofedVersion = PR_GetEnv("MOZ_GFX_SPOOF_GL_VERSION");
+      if (spoofedVersion)
+          mVersion.Assign(spoofedVersion);
+      else
+          mVersion.Assign((const char*)gl->fGetString(LOCAL_GL_VERSION));
+
+      mReady = true;
     }
   }
-
-  void Initialize(gl::GLContext *gl) {
-    MonitorAutoLock autoLock(mMonitor);
-    MOZ_ASSERT(!mReady); // Initialize should be called only once
-
-    gl->MakeCurrent();
-
-    const char *spoofedVendor = PR_GetEnv("MOZ_GFX_SPOOF_GL_VENDOR");
-    if (spoofedVendor)
-        mVendor.Assign(spoofedVendor);
-    else
-        mVendor.Assign((const char*)gl->fGetString(LOCAL_GL_VENDOR));
-    const char *spoofedRenderer = PR_GetEnv("MOZ_GFX_SPOOF_GL_RENDERER");
-    if (spoofedRenderer)
-        mRenderer.Assign(spoofedRenderer);
-    else
-        mRenderer.Assign((const char*)gl->fGetString(LOCAL_GL_RENDERER));
-    const char *spoofedVersion = PR_GetEnv("MOZ_GFX_SPOOF_GL_VERSION");
-    if (spoofedVersion)
-        mVersion.Assign(spoofedVersion);
-    else
-        mVersion.Assign((const char*)gl->fGetString(LOCAL_GL_VERSION));
-
-    mReady = true;
-    mMonitor.Notify();
-  }
 };
 
 #ifdef DEBUG
@@ -167,11 +133,6 @@ GfxInfo::GetCleartypeParameters(nsAString & aCleartypeParams)
   return NS_ERROR_FAILURE;
 }
 
-void GfxInfo::InitializeGLStrings(gl::GLContext* gl)
-{
-  mGLStrings->Initialize(gl);
-}
-
 void
 GfxInfo::EnsureInitialized()
 {
@@ -403,10 +364,8 @@ GfxInfo::GetFeatureStatusImpl(int32_t aFeature,
     *aOS = os;
 
   // OpenGL layers are never blacklisted on Android.
-  // This early return is not just an optimization, it is actually
-  // important to avoid calling EnsureInitialized() below, as that would
-  // cause waiting for GL strings, which are going to be provided
-  // by the compositor's OpenGL context, so we'd deadlock.
+  // This early return is so we avoid potentially slow
+  // GLStrings initialization on startup when we initialize GL layers.
   if (aFeature == nsIGfxInfo::FEATURE_OPENGL_LAYERS) {
     *aStatus = nsIGfxInfo::FEATURE_NO_INFO;
     return NS_OK;
diff --git a/widget/android/GfxInfo.h b/widget/android/GfxInfo.h
index c7031397290..34c4b35f952 100644
--- a/widget/android/GfxInfo.h
+++ b/widget/android/GfxInfo.h
@@ -66,8 +66,6 @@ public:
 
   virtual uint32_t OperatingSystemVersion() MOZ_OVERRIDE;
 
-  virtual void InitializeGLStrings(gl::GLContext* gl);
-
 protected:
 
   virtual nsresult GetFeatureStatusImpl(int32_t aFeature, 
diff --git a/widget/android/moz.build b/widget/android/moz.build
index 5cafce2b251..ce461242d46 100644
--- a/widget/android/moz.build
+++ b/widget/android/moz.build
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ EXPORTS += [
     'AndroidJavaWrappers.h',
     'AndroidJNIWrapper.h',
     'GeneratedJNIWrappers.h',
-    'GfxInfo.h',
 ]
 
 SOURCES += [