diff --git a/libgralloc/gpu.cpp b/libgralloc/gpu.cpp
index 628494bb..60b57fe0 100644
--- a/libgralloc/gpu.cpp
+++ b/libgralloc/gpu.cpp
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ int gpu_context_t::gralloc_alloc_buffer(size_t size, int usage,
             flags |= private_handle_t::PRIV_FLAGS_CAMERA_READ;
         }
 
+        if (usage & GRALLOC_USAGE_HW_COMPOSER) {
+            flags |= private_handle_t::PRIV_FLAGS_HW_COMPOSER;
+        }
+
         flags |= data.allocType;
         int eBaseAddr = int(eData.base) + eData.offset;
         private_handle_t *hnd = new private_handle_t(data.fd, size, flags,
diff --git a/libgralloc/gralloc_priv.h b/libgralloc/gralloc_priv.h
index c382a90a..eefda210 100644
--- a/libgralloc/gralloc_priv.h
+++ b/libgralloc/gralloc_priv.h
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ struct private_handle_t : public native_handle {
             PRIV_FLAGS_VIDEO_ENCODER      = 0x00010000,
             PRIV_FLAGS_CAMERA_WRITE       = 0x00020000,
             PRIV_FLAGS_CAMERA_READ        = 0x00040000,
+            PRIV_FLAGS_HW_COMPOSER        = 0x00080000,
         };
 
         // file-descriptors