diff --git a/dix/globals.c b/dix/globals.c
index 5b854aabc..fc77ca793 100644
--- a/dix/globals.c
+++ b/dix/globals.c
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ FontPtr defaultFont;   /* not declared in dix.h to avoid including font.h in
 Bool loadableFonts = FALSE;
 CursorPtr rootCursor;
 Bool blackRoot=FALSE;
+Bool whiteRoot=FALSE;
 ClientPtr requestingClient;	/* XXX this should be obsolete now, remove? */
 
 _X_EXPORT TimeStamp currentTime;
diff --git a/dix/window.c b/dix/window.c
index ebc6923fa..0beeb3a4d 100644
--- a/dix/window.c
+++ b/dix/window.c
@@ -343,9 +343,6 @@ MakeRootTile(WindowPtr pWin)
 	for (j = len; j > 0; j--)
 	    *to++ = *from;
 
-   if (blackRoot)
-       bzero(back, sizeof(back));
-
    (*pGC->ops->PutImage)((DrawablePtr)pWin->background.pixmap, pGC, 1,
 		    0, 0, len, 4, 0, XYBitmap, (char *)back);
 
@@ -506,6 +503,7 @@ void
 InitRootWindow(WindowPtr pWin)
 {
     ScreenPtr pScreen = pWin->drawable.pScreen;
+    int backFlag = CWBorderPixel | CWCursor | CWBackingStore;
 
     if (!(*pScreen->CreateWindow)(pWin))
 	return; /* XXX */
@@ -514,12 +512,23 @@ InitRootWindow(WindowPtr pWin)
     pWin->cursorIsNone = FALSE;
     pWin->optional->cursor = rootCursor;
     rootCursor->refcnt++;
-    MakeRootTile(pWin);
+
+    if (!blackRoot && !whiteRoot) {
+        MakeRootTile(pWin);
+        backFlag |= CWBackPixmap;
+    }
+    else {
+        if (blackRoot)
+            pWin->background.pixel = pScreen->blackPixel;
+        else
+            pWin->background.pixel = pScreen->whitePixel;
+        backFlag |= CWBackPixel;
+    } 
+
     pWin->backingStore = defaultBackingStore;
     pWin->forcedBS = (defaultBackingStore != NotUseful);
     /* We SHOULD check for an error value here XXX */
-    (*pScreen->ChangeWindowAttributes)(pWin,
-		       CWBackPixmap|CWBorderPixel|CWCursor|CWBackingStore);
+    (*pScreen->ChangeWindowAttributes)(pWin, backFlag);
 
     MapWindow(pWin, serverClient);
 }
diff --git a/include/opaque.h b/include/opaque.h
index 4ccccd054..3d19d275f 100644
--- a/include/opaque.h
+++ b/include/opaque.h
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ extern int limitNoFile;
 extern Bool defeatAccessControl;
 extern long maxBigRequestSize;
 extern Bool blackRoot;
+extern Bool whiteRoot;
 
 extern Bool CoreDump;
 
diff --git a/os/utils.c b/os/utils.c
index 6bf862497..31ae26a18 100644
--- a/os/utils.c
+++ b/os/utils.c
@@ -642,6 +642,7 @@ void UseMsg(void)
     ErrorF("v                      video blanking for screen-saver\n");
     ErrorF("-v                     screen-saver without video blanking\n");
     ErrorF("-wm                    WhenMapped default backing-store\n");
+    ErrorF("-wr                    create root window with white background\n");
     ErrorF("-x string              loads named extension at init time \n");
     ErrorF("-maxbigreqsize         set maximal bigrequest size \n");
 #ifdef PANORAMIX
@@ -983,6 +984,8 @@ ProcessCommandLine(int argc, char *argv[])
 	    defaultScreenSaverBlanking = DontPreferBlanking;
 	else if ( strcmp( argv[i], "-wm") == 0)
 	    defaultBackingStore = WhenMapped;
+        else if ( strcmp( argv[i], "-wr") == 0)
+            whiteRoot = TRUE;
         else if ( strcmp( argv[i], "-maxbigreqsize") == 0) {
              if(++i < argc) {
                  long reqSizeArg = atol(argv[i]);