diff --git a/openglcanvas.cpp b/openglcanvas.cpp
index d61036b8568632ef49fb69d259bd115e24db23c0..566ea513f277c1fe00c5c2b9aab7d3eee4df7e8c 100644
--- a/openglcanvas.cpp
+++ b/openglcanvas.cpp
@@ -593,12 +593,14 @@ void OpenGLCanvas::setShaders() {
 
     char *vs,*fs;
 
-#ifdef GLEW_VERSION_1_5
+#ifndef __APPLE__
+  #ifdef GLEW_VERSION_1_5
     GLenum err=glewInit();
     if(err!=GLEW_OK){
         fprintf(stderr,"error in GLEW initialization: %s\n",glewGetString(err));
         exit(-1);
     }
+  #endif
 #endif
 
     GLuint v = glCreateShader(GL_VERTEX_SHADER);
diff --git a/openglcanvas.h b/openglcanvas.h
index 2ca440fccaccb34dd49d9acb1b5ea7bf632c794a..c13215fa91fd4abbdcabb7df3590037eb45fc2fa 100644
--- a/openglcanvas.h
+++ b/openglcanvas.h
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 #ifndef OPENGLCANVAS_H
 #define OPENGLCANVAS_H
 
-// GLew might not be needed if a recent version of OpenGL is present
-#include <GL/glew.h>
-#if (!defined GLEW_VERSION_1_5) || (!defined GL_VERSION_3_1)
+// GLew might not be needed on mac, or if a recent version of OpenGL is present
+#ifndef __APPLE__
+  #include <GL/glew.h>
+  #if (!defined GLEW_VERSION_1_5) || (!defined GL_VERSION_3_1)
     #error GLEW 1.5.2 is required
+  #endif
 #endif
 
 #define GL_GLEXT_PROTOTYPES 1