diff --git a/filament/backend/src/opengl/OpenGLDriver.cpp b/filament/backend/src/opengl/OpenGLDriver.cpp
index fcf4975267..cc360128d2 100644
--- a/filament/backend/src/opengl/OpenGLDriver.cpp
+++ b/filament/backend/src/opengl/OpenGLDriver.cpp
@@ -2232,6 +2232,13 @@ void OpenGLDriver::beginRenderPass(Handle<HwRenderTarget> rth,
             }
             CHECK_GL_ERROR(utils::slog.e)
         }
+    } else {
+        // on GL desktop we assume we don't have glInvalidateFramebuffer, but even if the GPU is
+        // not a tiler, it's important to clear the framebuffer before drawing, as it resets
+        // the fb to a known state (resets fb compression and possibly other things).
+        // So we use glClear instead of glInvalidateFramebuffer
+        gl.disable(GL_SCISSOR_TEST);
+        clearWithRasterPipe(discardFlags & ~clearFlags, { 0.0f }, 0.0f, 0);
     }
 
     if (rt->gl.fbo_read) {
@@ -2262,8 +2269,7 @@ void OpenGLDriver::beginRenderPass(Handle<HwRenderTarget> rth,
 
 #ifndef NDEBUG
     // clear the discarded (but not the cleared ones) buffers in debug builds
-    mContext.bindFramebuffer(GL_FRAMEBUFFER, rt->gl.fbo);
-    mContext.disable(GL_SCISSOR_TEST);
+    gl.disable(GL_SCISSOR_TEST);
     clearWithRasterPipe(discardFlags & ~clearFlags,
             { 1, 0, 0, 1 }, 1.0, 0);
 #endif