diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9ce0522e..4a1efc7f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ See [examples](https://github.com/mifi/editly/tree/master/examples)
 - (Linux) may require some extra steps. See [headless-gl](https://github.com/stackgl/headless-gl#system-dependencies).
 - **Editly is now ESM only**
 
+Note: While OpenGL is required for transitions, you may disable transitions and circumvent the need for OpenGL by setting all transition durations to zero. This is particularly useful on platforms that do not support installing Xvfb, like Google Cloud Functions.
+
 ## Installing
 
 `npm i -g editly`
diff --git a/glTransitions.js b/glTransitions.js
index 1a6b0c88..3808e80b 100644
--- a/glTransitions.js
+++ b/glTransitions.js
@@ -8,13 +8,24 @@ import createTexture from 'gl-texture2d';
 const { default: createTransition } = glTransition;
 
 export default ({ width, height, channels }) => {
-  const gl = GL(width, height);
+  let hasInitBeenCalled = false;
+  let gl;;
 
-  if (!gl) {
-    throw new Error('gl returned null, this probably means that some dependencies are not installed. See README.');
+  function initGL() {
+    hasInitBeenCalled = true;
+
+    const gl = GL(width, height);
+
+    if (!gl) {
+      throw new Error('gl returned null, this probably means that some dependencies are not installed. See README.');
+    }
   }
 
   function runTransitionOnFrame({ fromFrame, toFrame, progress, transitionName, transitionParams = {} }) {
+    if (!hasInitBeenCalled) {
+      initGL();
+    }
+
     function convertFrame(buf) {
       // @see https://github.com/stackgl/gl-texture2d/issues/16
       return ndarray(buf, [width, height, channels], [channels, width * channels, 1]);