diff --git a/gfx/gl/GLContext.cpp b/gfx/gl/GLContext.cpp
index 083d38807f9f..938c5a7bee39 100644
--- a/gfx/gl/GLContext.cpp
+++ b/gfx/gl/GLContext.cpp
@@ -293,7 +293,8 @@ GLContext::InitWithPrefix(const char *prefix, bool trygl)
                 "NVIDIA",
                 "ATI",
                 "Qualcomm",
-                "Imagination"
+                "Imagination",
+                "nouveau"
         };
         mVendor = VendorOther;
         for (int i = 0; i < VendorOther; ++i) {
@@ -512,11 +513,20 @@ GLContext::InitWithPrefix(const char *prefix, bool trygl)
 #ifdef XP_MACOSX
         if (mWorkAroundDriverBugs &&
             mVendor == VendorIntel) {
-            // see bug 737182 for 2D textures, bug 684822 for cube map textures.
+            // see bug 737182 for 2D textures, bug 684882 for cube map textures.
             mMaxTextureSize        = NS_MIN(mMaxTextureSize,        4096);
             mMaxCubeMapTextureSize = NS_MIN(mMaxCubeMapTextureSize, 512);
             // for good measure, we align renderbuffers on what we do for 2D textures
             mMaxRenderbufferSize   = NS_MIN(mMaxRenderbufferSize,   4096);
+            mNeedsTextureSizeChecks = true;
+        }
+#endif
+#ifdef MOZ_X11
+        if (mWorkAroundDriverBugs &&
+            mVendor == VendorNouveau) {
+            // see bug 814716. Clamp MaxCubeMapTextureSize at 2K for Nouveau.
+            mMaxCubeMapTextureSize = NS_MIN(mMaxCubeMapTextureSize, 2048);
+            mNeedsTextureSizeChecks = true;
         }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/gfx/gl/GLContext.h b/gfx/gl/GLContext.h
index d322d6e644c9..49cd3566e70c 100644
--- a/gfx/gl/GLContext.h
+++ b/gfx/gl/GLContext.h
@@ -548,6 +548,7 @@ public:
         mMaxCubeMapTextureSize(0),
         mMaxTextureImageSize(0),
         mMaxRenderbufferSize(0),
+        mNeedsTextureSizeChecks(false),
         mWorkAroundDriverBugs(true)
 #ifdef DEBUG
         , mGLError(LOCAL_GL_NO_ERROR)
@@ -724,6 +725,7 @@ public:
         VendorATI,
         VendorQualcomm,
         VendorImagination,
+        VendorNouveau,
         VendorOther
     };
 
@@ -1943,16 +1945,17 @@ protected:
     GLint mMaxCubeMapTextureSize;
     GLint mMaxTextureImageSize;
     GLint mMaxRenderbufferSize;
+    bool mNeedsTextureSizeChecks;
     bool mWorkAroundDriverBugs;
 
     bool IsTextureSizeSafeToPassToDriver(GLenum target, GLsizei width, GLsizei height) const {
-#ifdef XP_MACOSX
-        if (mWorkAroundDriverBugs &&
-            mVendor == VendorIntel) {
-            // see bug 737182 for 2D textures, bug 684822 for cube map textures.
-            // some drivers handle incorrectly some large texture sizes that are below the
+        if (mNeedsTextureSizeChecks) {
+            // some drivers incorrectly handle some large texture sizes that are below the
             // max texture size that they report. So we check ourselves against our own values
             // (mMax[CubeMap]TextureSize).
+            // see bug 737182 for Mac Intel 2D textures
+            // see bug 684882 for Mac Intel cube map textures
+            // see bug 814716 for Mesa Nouveau
             GLsizei maxSize = target == LOCAL_GL_TEXTURE_CUBE_MAP ||
                                 (target >= LOCAL_GL_TEXTURE_CUBE_MAP_POSITIVE_X &&
                                 target <= LOCAL_GL_TEXTURE_CUBE_MAP_NEGATIVE_Z)
@@ -1960,7 +1963,6 @@ protected:
                               : mMaxTextureSize;
             return width <= maxSize && height <= maxSize;
         }
-#endif
         return true;
     }