diff --git a/panda/src/glgsg/config_glgsg.cxx b/panda/src/glgsg/config_glgsg.cxx
index 7ce74499cb..3f141ad275 100644
--- a/panda/src/glgsg/config_glgsg.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/glgsg/config_glgsg.cxx
@@ -81,20 +81,10 @@ bool gl_supports_bgr = config_glgsg.GetBool("gl-supports-bgr", false);
 bool gl_supports_bgr = false;
 #endif  // GL_BGR
 
-GLDecalType gl_decal_type = GDT_offset;
-
-static GLDecalType
-parse_decal_type(const string &type) {
-  if (type == "mask") {
-    return GDT_mask;
-  } else if (type == "blend") {
-    return GDT_blend;
-  } else if (type == "offset") {
-    return GDT_offset;
-  }
-  glgsg_cat.error() << "Invalid gl-decal-type: " << type << "\n";
-  return GDT_offset;
-}
+// Configure this false if your GL's implementation of glColorMask()
+// is broken (some are).  This will force the use of a (presumably)
+// more expensive blending operation instead.
+bool gl_color_mask = config_glgsg.GetBool("gl-color-mask", true);
 
 ConfigureFn(config_glgsg) {
   init_libglgsg();
@@ -116,11 +106,6 @@ init_libglgsg() {
   }
   initialized = true;
 
-  string decal_type = config_glgsg.GetString("gl-decal-type", "");
-  if (!decal_type.empty()) {
-    gl_decal_type = parse_decal_type(decal_type);
-  }
-
   GLGraphicsStateGuardian::init_type();
   GLSavedFrameBuffer::init_type();
   GLTextureContext::init_type();
diff --git a/panda/src/glgsg/config_glgsg.h b/panda/src/glgsg/config_glgsg.h
index 607bf0898b..e44d5f1f95 100644
--- a/panda/src/glgsg/config_glgsg.h
+++ b/panda/src/glgsg/config_glgsg.h
@@ -34,14 +34,7 @@ extern bool gl_save_mipmaps;
 extern bool gl_auto_normalize_lighting;
 extern bool gl_depth_offset_decals;
 extern bool gl_supports_bgr;
-
-// Ways to implement decals.
-enum GLDecalType {
-  GDT_mask,   // GL 1.0 style, involving three steps
-  GDT_blend,  // As above, but slower; a hack for broken nVidia driver
-  GDT_offset  // The fastest, using GL 1.1 style glPolygonOffset
-};
-extern GLDecalType gl_decal_type;
+extern bool gl_color_mask;
 
 
 extern EXPCL_PANDAGL void init_libglgsg();
diff --git a/panda/src/glgsg/glGraphicsStateGuardian.I b/panda/src/glgsg/glGraphicsStateGuardian.I
index 3bf66fae65..4d11d7aeb2 100644
--- a/panda/src/glgsg/glGraphicsStateGuardian.I
+++ b/panda/src/glgsg/glGraphicsStateGuardian.I
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ call_glStencilFunc(GLenum func,GLint ref,GLuint mask) {
       glgsg_cat.debug(false) << "unknown, ";
       break;
     }
-    glgsg_cat.debug(false) << ref << mask << ")\n";
+    glgsg_cat.debug(false) << (int)ref << (unsigned int)mask << ")\n";
 #endif
     glStencilFunc(func, ref, mask);
 }
diff --git a/panda/src/glgsg/glGraphicsStateGuardian.cxx b/panda/src/glgsg/glGraphicsStateGuardian.cxx
index 81d39ac037..580599693d 100644
--- a/panda/src/glgsg/glGraphicsStateGuardian.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/glgsg/glGraphicsStateGuardian.cxx
@@ -2134,13 +2134,20 @@ issue_color_write(const ColorWriteAttrib *attrib) {
   // in set_blend_mode().  However, since GL does support an easy way
   // to disable writes to the color buffer, we can take advantage of
   // it here.
-  ColorWriteAttrib::Mode mode = attrib->get_mode();
-  if (mode == ColorWriteAttrib::M_off) {
-    glColorMask(GL_FALSE, GL_FALSE, GL_FALSE, GL_FALSE);
+  if (gl_color_mask) {
+    ColorWriteAttrib::Mode mode = attrib->get_mode();
+    if (mode == ColorWriteAttrib::M_off) {
+      glColorMask(GL_FALSE, GL_FALSE, GL_FALSE, GL_FALSE);
+    } else {
+      glColorMask(GL_TRUE, GL_TRUE, GL_TRUE, GL_TRUE);
+    }
+    report_errors();
+
   } else {
-    glColorMask(GL_TRUE, GL_TRUE, GL_TRUE, GL_TRUE);
+    // Some implementations don't seem to handle glColorMask() very
+    // robustly, however, so we provide this fallback.
+    GraphicsStateGuardian::issue_color_write(attrib);
   }
-  report_errors();
 }
 
 // PandaCompareFunc - 1 + 0x200 === GL_NEVER, etc.  order is sequential