diff --git a/src/output/output_opengl.cpp b/src/output/output_opengl.cpp
index 304a593afc..596b25659f 100644
--- a/src/output/output_opengl.cpp
+++ b/src/output/output_opengl.cpp
@@ -342,7 +342,8 @@ void OUTPUT_OPENGL_Select( GLKind kind )
     sdl_opengl.use_shader = false;
     initgl=0;
 #if defined(C_SDL2)
-    SDL_SetHint(SDL_HINT_FRAMEBUFFER_ACCELERATION, "opengl");
+    SDL_SetHint( SDL_HINT_FRAMEBUFFER_ACCELERATION, "1" ); // setting this to "opengl" caused crashes in certain situations (#3661). can still be overridden via environment variable
+
     void GFX_SetResizeable(bool enable);
     GFX_SetResizeable(true);
     sdl.window = GFX_SetSDLWindowMode(640,400, SCREEN_OPENGL);