diff --git a/docs/env_vars.md b/docs/env_vars.md
index a2a86c84d..cf21a7231 100644
--- a/docs/env_vars.md
+++ b/docs/env_vars.md
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ wlroots reads these environment variables
 * *WLR_RENDERER_ALLOW_SOFTWARE*: allows the gles2 renderer to use software
   rendering
 
+## Vulkan renderer
+
+* *WLR_VK_DIRECT_SHM_IMPORT*: Allow importing shm buffers directly as host memory
+
 ## scenes
 
 * *WLR_SCENE_DEBUG_DAMAGE*: specifies debug options for screen damage related
diff --git a/include/render/vulkan.h b/include/render/vulkan.h
index 17467a25f..d99b6f5a5 100644
--- a/include/render/vulkan.h
+++ b/include/render/vulkan.h
@@ -324,6 +324,8 @@ struct wlr_vk_renderer {
 		VkImage dst_image;
 		VkDeviceMemory dst_img_memory;
 	} read_pixels_cache;
+
+	bool direct_shm_import;
 };
 
 // vertex shader push constant range data
diff --git a/render/vulkan/renderer.c b/render/vulkan/renderer.c
index 3aa66e5c6..b78f62fca 100644
--- a/render/vulkan/renderer.c
+++ b/render/vulkan/renderer.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include "render/vulkan/shaders/output.frag.h"
 #include "types/wlr_buffer.h"
 #include "types/wlr_matrix.h"
+#include "util/env.h"
 
 // TODO:
 // - simplify stage allocation, don't track allocations but use ringbuffer-like
@@ -2417,6 +2418,8 @@ struct wlr_renderer *vulkan_renderer_create_for_device(struct wlr_vk_device *dev
 	wl_list_init(&renderer->color_transforms);
 	wl_list_init(&renderer->pipeline_layouts);
 
+	renderer->direct_shm_import = env_parse_bool("WLR_VK_DIRECT_SHM_IMPORT");
+
 	if (!init_static_render_data(renderer)) {
 		goto error;
 	}
diff --git a/render/vulkan/texture.c b/render/vulkan/texture.c
index b7130bd9e..b4558bd60 100644
--- a/render/vulkan/texture.c
+++ b/render/vulkan/texture.c
@@ -456,7 +456,8 @@ static struct wlr_texture *vulkan_texture_from_pixels(
 		img_info.flags |= VK_IMAGE_CREATE_MUTABLE_FORMAT_BIT;
 	}
 
-	if (renderer->dev->api.vkGetMemoryHostPointerPropertiesEXT) {
+	if (renderer->direct_shm_import &&
+			renderer->dev->api.vkGetMemoryHostPointerPropertiesEXT) {
 		img_info.tiling = VK_IMAGE_TILING_LINEAR;
 		img_info.initialLayout = VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PREINITIALIZED;