diff --git a/kitty/__init__.py b/kitty/__init__.py
index e69de29bb..81be94848 100644
--- a/kitty/__init__.py
+++ b/kitty/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import OpenGL
+
+# PyOpenGL error checking is extremely slow, so disable it, since by default it
+# runs for every call into the OpenGL API
+OpenGL.ERROR_CHECKING = False