diff --git a/hw/display/vga.c b/hw/display/vga.c
index a620c07864..ffcfce38a4 100644
--- a/hw/display/vga.c
+++ b/hw/display/vga.c
@@ -1437,6 +1437,7 @@ static void vga_draw_graphic(VGACommonState *s, int full_update)
     uint32_t v, addr1, addr;
     vga_draw_line_func *vga_draw_line = NULL;
     bool share_surface;
+    pixman_format_code_t format;
 #ifdef HOST_WORDS_BIGENDIAN
     bool byteswap = !s->big_endian_fb;
 #else
@@ -1481,8 +1482,19 @@ static void vga_draw_graphic(VGACommonState *s, int full_update)
 
     depth = s->get_bpp(s);
 
-    share_surface = (!s->force_shadow) &&
-            ( depth == 32 || (depth == 16 && !byteswap) );
+    /*
+     * Check whether we can share the surface with the backend
+     * or whether we need a shadow surface. We share native
+     * endian surfaces for 15bpp and above and byteswapped
+     * surfaces for 24bpp and above.
+     */
+    format = qemu_default_pixman_format(depth, !byteswap);
+    if (format) {
+        share_surface = dpy_gfx_check_format(s->con, format)
+            && !s->force_shadow;
+    } else {
+        share_surface = false;
+    }
     if (s->line_offset != s->last_line_offset ||
         disp_width != s->last_width ||
         height != s->last_height ||
@@ -1490,8 +1502,6 @@ static void vga_draw_graphic(VGACommonState *s, int full_update)
         s->last_byteswap != byteswap ||
         share_surface != is_buffer_shared(surface)) {
         if (share_surface) {
-            pixman_format_code_t format =
-                qemu_default_pixman_format(depth, !byteswap);
             surface = qemu_create_displaysurface_from(disp_width,
                     height, format, s->line_offset,
                     s->vram_ptr + (s->start_addr * 4));
diff --git a/include/ui/console.h b/include/ui/console.h
index 22ef8ca6b3..047b6dab8d 100644
--- a/include/ui/console.h
+++ b/include/ui/console.h
@@ -161,6 +161,8 @@ typedef struct DisplayChangeListenerOps {
     void (*dpy_gfx_copy)(DisplayChangeListener *dcl,
                          int src_x, int src_y,
                          int dst_x, int dst_y, int w, int h);
+    bool (*dpy_gfx_check_format)(DisplayChangeListener *dcl,
+                                 pixman_format_code_t format);
 
     void (*dpy_text_cursor)(DisplayChangeListener *dcl,
                             int x, int y);
@@ -235,6 +237,8 @@ void dpy_gfx_update_dirty(QemuConsole *con,
                           MemoryRegion *address_space,
                           uint64_t base,
                           bool invalidate);
+bool dpy_gfx_check_format(QemuConsole *con,
+                          pixman_format_code_t format);
 
 static inline int surface_stride(DisplaySurface *s)
 {
diff --git a/ui/console.c b/ui/console.c
index 258af5dfff..87574a73a8 100644
--- a/ui/console.c
+++ b/ui/console.c
@@ -1439,6 +1439,31 @@ void dpy_gfx_replace_surface(QemuConsole *con,
     qemu_free_displaysurface(old_surface);
 }
 
+bool dpy_gfx_check_format(QemuConsole *con,
+                          pixman_format_code_t format)
+{
+    DisplayChangeListener *dcl;
+    DisplayState *s = con->ds;
+
+    QLIST_FOREACH(dcl, &s->listeners, next) {
+        if (dcl->con && dcl->con != con) {
+            /* dcl bound to another console -> skip */
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (dcl->ops->dpy_gfx_check_format) {
+            if (!dcl->ops->dpy_gfx_check_format(dcl, format)) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        } else {
+            /* default is to whitelist native 32 bpp only */
+            if (format != qemu_default_pixman_format(32, true)) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
 static void dpy_refresh(DisplayState *s)
 {
     DisplayChangeListener *dcl;