diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/webkitgtk/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/webkitgtk/default.nix
index a7be55fbffb89..0504969a90605 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/webkitgtk/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/webkitgtk/default.nix
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       inherit (addOpenGLRunpath) driverLink;
     })
     ./libglvnd-headers.patch
+
+    # The upgrade to 2.36 has enabled hardware acceleration by
+    # default. This causes problems. See #168645.
+    ./disable-compositing.patch
   ];
 
   preConfigure = lib.optionalString (stdenv.hostPlatform != stdenv.buildPlatform) ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/webkitgtk/disable-compositing.patch b/pkgs/development/libraries/webkitgtk/disable-compositing.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c42ba298843bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/webkitgtk/disable-compositing.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+diff --git a/Source/WebKit/UIProcess/gtk/HardwareAccelerationManager.cpp b/Source/WebKit/UIProcess/gtk/HardwareAccelerationManager.cpp
+index 8f10c7e611b7..9c827a4d6d75 100644
+--- a/Source/WebKit/UIProcess/gtk/HardwareAccelerationManager.cpp
++++ b/Source/WebKit/UIProcess/gtk/HardwareAccelerationManager.cpp
+@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ HardwareAccelerationManager& HardwareAccelerationManager::singleton()
+ }
+ 
+ HardwareAccelerationManager::HardwareAccelerationManager()
+-    : m_canUseHardwareAcceleration(true)
++    : m_canUseHardwareAcceleration(false)
+     , m_forceHardwareAcceleration(false)
+ {
+ #if !ENABLE(WEBGL)