diff --git a/video/out/gl_common.c b/video/out/gl_common.c
index 518f962d2c..2937b6cf4e 100644
--- a/video/out/gl_common.c
+++ b/video/out/gl_common.c
@@ -592,7 +592,6 @@ static MPGLContext *init_backend(struct vo *vo, const struct backend *backend,
         .gl = talloc_zero(ctx, GL),
         .vo = vo,
         .driver = backend->driver,
-        .requested_gl_version = 300,
     };
     bool old_probing = vo->probing;
     vo->probing = probing; // hack; kill it once backends are separate
diff --git a/video/out/gl_common.h b/video/out/gl_common.h
index 3b5def0346..f163e4fd28 100644
--- a/video/out/gl_common.h
+++ b/video/out/gl_common.h
@@ -86,16 +86,12 @@ struct mpgl_driver {
     int priv_size;
 
     // Init the GL context and possibly the underlying VO backend.
+    // The created context should be compatible to GL 3.2 core profile, but
+    // some other GL versions are supported as well (e.g. GL 2.1 or GLES 2).
     // Return 0 on success, negative value (-1) on error.
     int (*init)(struct MPGLContext *ctx, int vo_flags);
 
     // Resize the window, or create a new window if there isn't one yet.
-    // On the first call, it creates a GL context according to what's specified
-    // in MPGLContext.requested_gl_version. This is just a hint, and if the
-    // requested version is not available, it may return a completely different
-    // GL context. (The caller must check if the created GL version is ok. The
-    // callee must try to fall back to an older version if the requested
-    // version is not available, and newer versions are incompatible.)
     // Currently, there is an unfortunate interaction with ctx->vo, and
     // display size etc. are determined by it.
     // Return 0 on success, negative value (-1) on error.
@@ -119,10 +115,6 @@ typedef struct MPGLContext {
     // Bit size of each component in the created framebuffer. 0 if unknown.
     int depth_r, depth_g, depth_b;
 
-    // GL version requested from config_window_gl3 backend (MPGL_VER mangled).
-    // (Might be different from the actual version in gl->version.)
-    int requested_gl_version;
-
     // For free use by the mpgl_driver.
     void *priv;
 
@@ -142,12 +134,7 @@ typedef struct MPGLContext {
 
 
     // Resize the window, or create a new window if there isn't one yet.
-    // On the first call, it creates a GL context according to what's specified
-    // in MPGLContext.requested_gl_version. This is just a hint, and if the
-    // requested version is not available, it may return a completely different
-    // GL context. (The caller must check if the created GL version is ok. The
-    // callee must try to fall back to an older version if the requested
-    // version is not available, and newer versions are incompatible.)
+    // On the first call, it creates a GL context.
     bool (*config_window)(struct MPGLContext *ctx, int flags);
 
     // Optional callback on the beginning of a frame. The frame will be finished
diff --git a/video/out/gl_w32.c b/video/out/gl_w32.c
index ccb7679109..87f98f117e 100644
--- a/video/out/gl_w32.c
+++ b/video/out/gl_w32.c
@@ -150,10 +150,9 @@ static bool create_context_w32_gl3(struct MPGLContext *ctx)
     if (!wglCreateContextAttribsARB)
         goto unsupported;
 
-    int gl_version = ctx->requested_gl_version;
     int attribs[] = {
-        WGL_CONTEXT_MAJOR_VERSION_ARB, MPGL_VER_GET_MAJOR(gl_version),
-        WGL_CONTEXT_MINOR_VERSION_ARB, MPGL_VER_GET_MINOR(gl_version),
+        WGL_CONTEXT_MAJOR_VERSION_ARB, 3,
+        WGL_CONTEXT_MINOR_VERSION_ARB, 0,
         WGL_CONTEXT_FLAGS_ARB, 0,
         WGL_CONTEXT_PROFILE_MASK_ARB, WGL_CONTEXT_CORE_PROFILE_BIT_ARB,
         0
diff --git a/video/out/gl_wayland.c b/video/out/gl_wayland.c
index 3307087a44..ecfa5b3298 100644
--- a/video/out/gl_wayland.c
+++ b/video/out/gl_wayland.c
@@ -89,8 +89,7 @@ static bool egl_create_context(struct vo_wayland_state *wl,
     MP_VERBOSE(wl, "EGL version %d.%d\n", major, minor);
 
     EGLint context_attribs[] = {
-        EGL_CONTEXT_MAJOR_VERSION_KHR,
-        MPGL_VER_GET_MAJOR(ctx->requested_gl_version),
+        EGL_CONTEXT_MAJOR_VERSION_KHR, 3,
         EGL_NONE
     };
 
diff --git a/video/out/gl_x11.c b/video/out/gl_x11.c
index 55099fb797..eeaa01f94c 100644
--- a/video/out/gl_x11.c
+++ b/video/out/gl_x11.c
@@ -242,10 +242,9 @@ static bool config_window_x11(struct MPGLContext *ctx, int flags)
 
     vo_x11_config_vo_window(vo, glx_ctx->vinfo, flags | VOFLAG_HIDDEN, "gl");
 
-    int gl_version = ctx->requested_gl_version;
     bool success = false;
     if (!(flags & VOFLAG_GLES)) {
-        success = create_context_x11_gl3(ctx, flags, gl_version, false);
+        success = create_context_x11_gl3(ctx, flags, 300, false);
         if (!success)
             success = create_context_x11_old(ctx);
     }
diff --git a/video/out/gl_x11egl.c b/video/out/gl_x11egl.c
index bfb88c3110..9db0bee0a9 100644
--- a/video/out/gl_x11egl.c
+++ b/video/out/gl_x11egl.c
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ static bool create_context_egl(MPGLContext *ctx, EGLConfig config,
     struct priv *p = ctx->priv;
 
     EGLint context_attributes[] = {
-        EGL_CONTEXT_CLIENT_VERSION, // aka EGL_CONTEXT_MAJOR_VERSION_KHR
-        es ? 2 : MPGL_VER_GET_MAJOR(ctx->requested_gl_version),
+        // aka EGL_CONTEXT_MAJOR_VERSION_KHR
+        EGL_CONTEXT_CLIENT_VERSION, es ? 2 : 3,
         EGL_NONE
     };