diff --git a/libs/renderengine/gl/GLESRenderEngine.h b/libs/renderengine/gl/GLESRenderEngine.h
index 64d6c6b..7496b74 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/gl/GLESRenderEngine.h
+++ b/libs/renderengine/gl/GLESRenderEngine.h
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@
                         base::unique_fd&& bufferFence, base::unique_fd* drawFence) override;
     bool cleanupPostRender(CleanupMode mode) override;
     int getContextPriority() override;
+    bool supportsBackgroundBlur() override { return mBlurFilter != nullptr; }
 
     EGLDisplay getEGLDisplay() const { return mEGLDisplay; }
     // Creates an output image for rendering to
diff --git a/libs/renderengine/gl/filters/BlurFilter.cpp b/libs/renderengine/gl/filters/BlurFilter.cpp
index 19f18c0..3455e08 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/gl/filters/BlurFilter.cpp
+++ b/libs/renderengine/gl/filters/BlurFilter.cpp
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@
 }
 
 string BlurFilter::getVertexShader() const {
-    return R"SHADER(#version 310 es
+    return R"SHADER(#version 300 es
         precision mediump float;
 
         in vec2 aPosition;
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@
 }
 
 string BlurFilter::getFragmentShader() const {
-    return R"SHADER(#version 310 es
+    return R"SHADER(#version 300 es
         precision mediump float;
 
         uniform sampler2D uTexture;
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@
 }
 
 string BlurFilter::getMixFragShader() const {
-    string shader = R"SHADER(#version 310 es
+    string shader = R"SHADER(#version 300 es
         precision mediump float;
 
         in highp vec2 vUV;
diff --git a/libs/renderengine/include/renderengine/RenderEngine.h b/libs/renderengine/include/renderengine/RenderEngine.h
index 506f81e..163a163 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/include/renderengine/RenderEngine.h
+++ b/libs/renderengine/include/renderengine/RenderEngine.h
@@ -188,6 +188,10 @@
     // number of contexts that can be created at a specific priority level in the system.
     virtual int getContextPriority() = 0;
 
+    // Returns true if blur was requested in the RenderEngineCreationArgs and the implementation
+    // also supports background blur.  If false, no blur will be applied when drawing layers.
+    virtual bool supportsBackgroundBlur() = 0;
+
 protected:
     friend class threaded::RenderEngineThreaded;
 };
diff --git a/libs/renderengine/include/renderengine/mock/RenderEngine.h b/libs/renderengine/include/renderengine/mock/RenderEngine.h
index 2c34da4..895ba3f 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/include/renderengine/mock/RenderEngine.h
+++ b/libs/renderengine/include/renderengine/mock/RenderEngine.h
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
                           base::unique_fd*));
     MOCK_METHOD0(cleanFramebufferCache, void());
     MOCK_METHOD0(getContextPriority, int());
+    MOCK_METHOD0(supportsBackgroundBlur, bool());
 };
 
 } // namespace mock
diff --git a/libs/renderengine/skia/SkiaGLRenderEngine.h b/libs/renderengine/skia/SkiaGLRenderEngine.h
index 8ef7359..5779ae6 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/skia/SkiaGLRenderEngine.h
+++ b/libs/renderengine/skia/SkiaGLRenderEngine.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
     bool isProtected() const override { return mInProtectedContext; }
     bool supportsProtectedContent() const override;
     bool useProtectedContext(bool useProtectedContext) override;
+    bool supportsBackgroundBlur() override { return mBlurFilter != nullptr; }
 
 protected:
     void dump(std::string& result) override;
diff --git a/libs/renderengine/tests/RenderEngineTest.cpp b/libs/renderengine/tests/RenderEngineTest.cpp
index 886c9da..500a90b 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/tests/RenderEngineTest.cpp
+++ b/libs/renderengine/tests/RenderEngineTest.cpp
@@ -914,13 +914,6 @@
 
 template <typename SourceVariant>
 void RenderEngineTest::fillBufferAndBlurBackground() {
-        char value[PROPERTY_VALUE_MAX];
-    property_get("ro.surface_flinger.supports_background_blur", value, "0");
-    if (!atoi(value)) {
-        // This device doesn't support blurs, no-op.
-        return;
-    }
-
     auto blurRadius = 50;
     auto center = DEFAULT_DISPLAY_WIDTH / 2;
 
@@ -959,9 +952,11 @@
     // solid color
     expectBufferColor(Rect(0, 0, 1, 1), 255, 0, 0, 255, 0 /* tolerance */);
 
-    // blurred color (downsampling should result in the center color being close to 128)
-    expectBufferColor(Rect(center - 1, center - 5, center + 1, center + 5), 128, 128, 0, 255,
-                      10 /* tolerance */);
+    if (mRE->supportsBackgroundBlur()) {
+        // blurred color (downsampling should result in the center color being close to 128)
+        expectBufferColor(Rect(center - 1, center - 5, center + 1, center + 5), 128, 128, 0, 255,
+                          10 /* tolerance */);
+    }
 }
 
 template <typename SourceVariant>
diff --git a/libs/renderengine/tests/RenderEngineThreadedTest.cpp b/libs/renderengine/tests/RenderEngineThreadedTest.cpp
index 02ff06f..08b672a 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/tests/RenderEngineThreadedTest.cpp
+++ b/libs/renderengine/tests/RenderEngineThreadedTest.cpp
@@ -144,6 +144,17 @@
     ASSERT_EQ(true, result);
 }
 
+TEST_F(RenderEngineThreadedTest, supportsBackgroundBlur_returnsFalse) {
+    EXPECT_CALL(*mRenderEngine, supportsBackgroundBlur()).WillOnce(Return(false));
+    status_t result = mThreadedRE->supportsBackgroundBlur();
+    ASSERT_EQ(false, result);
+}
+
+TEST_F(RenderEngineThreadedTest, supportsBackgroundBlur_returnsTrue) {
+    EXPECT_CALL(*mRenderEngine, supportsBackgroundBlur()).WillOnce(Return(true));
+    status_t result = mThreadedRE->supportsBackgroundBlur();
+    ASSERT_EQ(true, result);
+}
 TEST_F(RenderEngineThreadedTest, drawLayers) {
     renderengine::DisplaySettings settings;
     std::vector<const renderengine::LayerSettings*> layers;
diff --git a/libs/renderengine/threaded/RenderEngineThreaded.cpp b/libs/renderengine/threaded/RenderEngineThreaded.cpp
index 3b97f56..f448135 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/threaded/RenderEngineThreaded.cpp
+++ b/libs/renderengine/threaded/RenderEngineThreaded.cpp
@@ -315,6 +315,21 @@
     return resultFuture.get();
 }
 
+bool RenderEngineThreaded::supportsBackgroundBlur() {
+    std::promise<bool> resultPromise;
+    std::future<bool> resultFuture = resultPromise.get_future();
+    {
+        std::lock_guard lock(mThreadMutex);
+        mFunctionCalls.push([&resultPromise](renderengine::RenderEngine& instance) {
+            ATRACE_NAME("REThreaded::supportsBackgroundBlur");
+            bool returnValue = instance.supportsBackgroundBlur();
+            resultPromise.set_value(returnValue);
+        });
+    }
+    mCondition.notify_one();
+    return resultFuture.get();
+}
+
 } // namespace threaded
 } // namespace renderengine
 } // namespace android
diff --git a/libs/renderengine/threaded/RenderEngineThreaded.h b/libs/renderengine/threaded/RenderEngineThreaded.h
index 8b1e2de..8279cbc 100644
--- a/libs/renderengine/threaded/RenderEngineThreaded.h
+++ b/libs/renderengine/threaded/RenderEngineThreaded.h
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
 
     void cleanFramebufferCache() override;
     int getContextPriority() override;
+    bool supportsBackgroundBlur() override;
 
 private:
     void threadMain(CreateInstanceFactory factory);