diff --git a/js/render/gl_util.js b/js/render/gl_util.js
index a2c58f278fd..207c9a05d89 100644
--- a/js/render/gl_util.js
+++ b/js/render/gl_util.js
@@ -18,7 +18,14 @@ exports.extend = function(context) {
         }
 
         var shader = this.createShader(type);
-        this.shaderSource(shader, shaders[name][kind]);
+        var shaderSource = shaders[name][kind];
+
+        if (typeof orientation === 'undefined') {
+            // only use highp precision on mobile browsers
+            shaderSource = shaderSource.replace(/ highp /g, ' ');
+        }
+
+        this.shaderSource(shader, shaderSource);
         this.compileShader(shader);
         if (!this.getShaderParameter(shader, this.COMPILE_STATUS)) {
             throw new Error(this.getShaderInfoLog(shader));