diff --git a/GPU/GLES/TextureCacheGLES.cpp b/GPU/GLES/TextureCacheGLES.cpp
index 845036945c..59eb3184c1 100644
--- a/GPU/GLES/TextureCacheGLES.cpp
+++ b/GPU/GLES/TextureCacheGLES.cpp
@@ -207,6 +207,19 @@ void TextureCacheGLES::StartFrame() {
 	InvalidateLastTexture();
 	timesInvalidatedAllThisFrame_ = 0;
 
+	GLRenderManager *renderManager = (GLRenderManager *)draw_->GetNativeObject(Draw::NativeObject::RENDER_MANAGER);
+	if (!lowMemoryMode_ && renderManager->SawOutOfMemory()) {
+		lowMemoryMode_ = true;
+		decimationCounter_ = 0;
+
+		I18NCategory *err = GetI18NCategory("Error");
+		if (standardScaleFactor_ > 1) {
+			host->NotifyUserMessage(err->T("Warning: Video memory FULL, reducing upscaling and switching to slow caching mode"), 2.0f);
+		} else {
+			host->NotifyUserMessage(err->T("Warning: Video memory FULL, switching to slow caching mode"), 2.0f);
+		}
+	}
+
 	if (texelsScaledThisFrame_) {
 		// INFO_LOG(G3D, "Scaled %i texels", texelsScaledThisFrame_);
 	}
@@ -803,11 +816,6 @@ void TextureCacheGLES::LoadTextureLevel(TexCacheEntry &entry, ReplacedTexture &r
 		// glTexSubImage2D(GL_TEXTURE_2D, level, 0, 0, w, h, components2, dstFmt, pixelData);
 	} else {
 		PROFILE_THIS_SCOPE("loadtex");
-		// Avoid misleading errors in texture upload, these are common.
-		GLenum err = glGetError();
-		if (err) {
-			WARN_LOG(G3D, "Got an error BEFORE texture upload: %08x (%s)", err, GLEnumToString(err).c_str());
-		}
 		if (IsFakeMipmapChange())
 			render_->TextureImage(entry.textureName, 0, w, h, components, components2, dstFmt, pixelData);
 		else
diff --git a/ext/native/thin3d/GLQueueRunner.cpp b/ext/native/thin3d/GLQueueRunner.cpp
index 7fc9cb5fdf..83820ff7e4 100644
--- a/ext/native/thin3d/GLQueueRunner.cpp
+++ b/ext/native/thin3d/GLQueueRunner.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ GLuint g_defaultFBO = 0;
 void GLQueueRunner::CreateDeviceObjects() {
 	glGetFloatv(GL_MAX_TEXTURE_MAX_ANISOTROPY_EXT, &maxAnisotropyLevel_);
 	glGenVertexArrays(1, &globalVAO_);
+
+	// An eternal optimist.
+	sawOutOfMemory_ = false;
 }
 
 void GLQueueRunner::DestroyDeviceObjects() {
@@ -36,6 +39,7 @@ void GLQueueRunner::DestroyDeviceObjects() {
 void GLQueueRunner::RunInitSteps(const std::vector<GLRInitStep> &steps) {
 	glActiveTexture(GL_TEXTURE0);
 	GLuint boundTexture = (GLuint)-1;
+	bool allocatedTextures = false;
 
 	for (int i = 0; i < steps.size(); i++) {
 		const GLRInitStep &step = steps[i];
@@ -197,6 +201,7 @@ void GLQueueRunner::RunInitSteps(const std::vector<GLRInitStep> &steps) {
 		{
 			boundTexture = (GLuint)-1;
 			InitCreateFramebuffer(step);
+			allocatedTextures = true;
 			break;
 		}
 		case GLRInitStepType::TEXTURE_IMAGE:
@@ -211,6 +216,7 @@ void GLQueueRunner::RunInitSteps(const std::vector<GLRInitStep> &steps) {
 				Crash();
 			// For things to show in RenderDoc, need to split into glTexImage2D(..., nullptr) and glTexSubImage.
 			glTexImage2D(tex->target, step.texture_image.level, step.texture_image.internalFormat, step.texture_image.width, step.texture_image.height, 0, step.texture_image.format, step.texture_image.type, step.texture_image.data);
+			allocatedTextures = true;
 			delete[] step.texture_image.data;
 			CHECK_GL_ERROR_IF_DEBUG();
 			tex->wrapS = GL_CLAMP_TO_EDGE;
@@ -242,6 +248,21 @@ void GLQueueRunner::RunInitSteps(const std::vector<GLRInitStep> &steps) {
 			break;
 		}
 	}
+
+	// TODO: Use GL_KHR_no_error or a debug callback, where supported?
+	if (allocatedTextures) {
+		// Users may use replacements or scaling, with high render resolutions, and run out of VRAM.
+		// This detects that, rather than looking like PPSSPP is broken.
+		// Calling glGetError() isn't great, but at the end of init shouldn't be too bad...
+		GLenum err = glGetError();
+		if (err == GL_OUT_OF_MEMORY) {
+			WARN_LOG_REPORT(G3D, "GL ran out of GPU memory; switching to low memory mode");
+			sawOutOfMemory_ = true;
+		} else if (err != GL_NO_ERROR) {
+			// We checked the err anyway, might as well log if there is one.
+			WARN_LOG(G3D, "Got an error after init: %08x (%s)", err, GLEnumToString(err).c_str());
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 void GLQueueRunner::InitCreateFramebuffer(const GLRInitStep &step) {
diff --git a/ext/native/thin3d/GLQueueRunner.h b/ext/native/thin3d/GLQueueRunner.h
index 498177c178..e04f2f495e 100644
--- a/ext/native/thin3d/GLQueueRunner.h
+++ b/ext/native/thin3d/GLQueueRunner.h
@@ -328,6 +328,10 @@ public:
 		targetWidth_ = width;
 		targetHeight_ = height;
 	}
+
+	bool SawOutOfMemory() {
+		return sawOutOfMemory_;
+	}
 private:
 	void InitCreateFramebuffer(const GLRInitStep &step);
 
@@ -374,4 +378,6 @@ private:
 	GLuint AllocTextureName();
 	// Texture name cache. Ripped straight from TextureCacheGLES.
 	std::vector<GLuint> nameCache_;
+
+	bool sawOutOfMemory_ = false;
 };
diff --git a/ext/native/thin3d/GLRenderManager.h b/ext/native/thin3d/GLRenderManager.h
index 90502cbb24..abc4fb7ced 100644
--- a/ext/native/thin3d/GLRenderManager.h
+++ b/ext/native/thin3d/GLRenderManager.h
@@ -653,6 +653,10 @@ public:
 
 	void StopThread();
 
+	bool SawOutOfMemory() {
+		return queueRunner_.SawOutOfMemory();
+	}
+
 private:
 	void BeginSubmitFrame(int frame);
 	void EndSubmitFrame(int frame);