diff --git a/src/ol/browserfeature.js b/src/ol/browserfeature.js
index 1d5a79ec7b..e03792b08a 100644
--- a/src/ol/browserfeature.js
+++ b/src/ol/browserfeature.js
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ ol.ENABLE_IMAGE = true;
 ol.ENABLE_TILE = true;
 
 
+/**
+ * @define {boolean} Whether to enable rendering of vector layers.
+ */
+ol.ENABLE_VECTOR = true;
+
+
 /**
  * @define {boolean} Whether to enable WebGL.
  */
diff --git a/src/ol/renderer/canvas/canvasmaprenderer.js b/src/ol/renderer/canvas/canvasmaprenderer.js
index 3fa2ddc87a..bd9c0fcfda 100644
--- a/src/ol/renderer/canvas/canvasmaprenderer.js
+++ b/src/ol/renderer/canvas/canvasmaprenderer.js
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ ol.renderer.canvas.Map.prototype.createLayerRenderer = function(layer) {
     return new ol.renderer.canvas.ImageLayer(this, layer);
   } else if (ol.ENABLE_TILE && layer instanceof ol.layer.Tile) {
     return new ol.renderer.canvas.TileLayer(this, layer);
-  } else if (layer instanceof ol.layer.Vector) {
+  } else if (ol.ENABLE_VECTOR && layer instanceof ol.layer.Vector) {
     return new ol.renderer.canvas.VectorLayer(this, layer);
   } else {
     goog.asserts.fail();