diff --git a/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/Config.fs b/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/Config.fs
index 213906d0..1ff526c3 100644
--- a/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/Config.fs
+++ b/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/Config.fs
@@ -58,6 +58,16 @@ module RuntimeConfig =
     /// </summary>
     let mutable NumberOfResourceContexts = 2
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Determines if context creation and sharing is robust to work properly in some edge cases.
+    /// When a context is created a parent context has to be provided to enable sharing. If that parent
+    /// context happens to be currently in use by another thread, context creation or sharing may fail.
+    /// If this flag is false, a resource context is used as parent without checking if it is actually available.
+    /// If true, an additional hidden context will be used as parent.
+    /// Default is true.
+    /// </summary>
+    let mutable RobustContextSharing = true
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Specifies the expected depth range of normalized device coordinates.
     /// Setting a depth range of [0, 1] requires GL_ARB_clip_control or OpenGL 4.5.
diff --git a/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/Context.fs b/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/Context.fs
index 658d9843..3aeaf8c8 100644
--- a/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/Context.fs
+++ b/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/Context.fs
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ type MemoryUsage() =
 /// multiple threads to submit GL calls concurrently.
 /// </summary>
 [<AllowNullLiteral>]
-type Context(runtime : IRuntime, createContext : unit -> ContextHandle) as this =
+type Context(runtime : IRuntime, createContext : ContextHandle option -> ContextHandle) as this =
 
     static let defaultShaderCachePath =
         Path.combine [
@@ -193,9 +193,15 @@ type Context(runtime : IRuntime, createContext : unit -> ContextHandle) as this
             "OpenGL"
         ]
 
+    // Hidden unused context for sharing.
+    // Note: If None is passed to createContext, it's up to the implementation how to choose the parent.
+    let parentContext =
+        if RuntimeConfig.RobustContextSharing then Some <| createContext None
+        else None
+
     let resourceContexts =
         let n = max 1 RuntimeConfig.NumberOfResourceContexts
-        Array.init n (ignore >> createContext)
+        Array.init n (fun _ -> createContext parentContext)
 
     let memoryUsage = MemoryUsage()
 
@@ -243,12 +249,16 @@ type Context(runtime : IRuntime, createContext : unit -> ContextHandle) as this
             value
         | Some v -> v
 
+    [<Obsolete("Use overload with createContext that accepts an optional parent context.")>]
+    new (runtime : IRuntime, createContext : unit -> ContextHandle) =
+        new Context(runtime, fun (_ : ContextHandle option) -> createContext())
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Creates custom OpenGl context. Usage:
     /// let customCtx = app.Context.CreateContext()
     /// use __ = app.Context.RenderingLock(customCtx)
     /// </summary>
-    member x.CreateContext() = createContext()
+    member x.CreateContext() = createContext parentContext
 
     member internal x.ShaderCache = shaderCache
 
@@ -459,6 +469,8 @@ type Context(runtime : IRuntime, createContext : unit -> ContextHandle) as this
 
             for c in resourceContexts do
                 ContextHandle.delete c
+
+            parentContext |> Option.iter ContextHandle.delete
         with _ ->
             ()
 
diff --git a/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/ContextHandles.fs b/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/ContextHandles.fs
index 82465456..dc8957e2 100644
--- a/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/ContextHandles.fs
+++ b/src/Aardvark.Rendering.GL/Core/ContextHandles.fs
@@ -298,14 +298,22 @@ module ContextHandleOpenTK =
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Creates a new context using the default configuration.
+    /// The given context is used as parent for sharing. If parent is None, OpenTK chooses a context to use as parent.
     /// </summary>
-    let create (debug : IDebugConfig) =
+    let createWithParent (debug : IDebugConfig) (parent : ContextHandle option) =
         let window, context =
             let prev = ContextHandle.Current
 
             let mode = Graphics.GraphicsMode(ColorFormat(Config.BitsPerPixel), Config.DepthBits, Config.StencilBits, 1, ColorFormat.Empty, Config.Buffers, false)
             let window = new NativeWindow(16, 16, "background", GameWindowFlags.Default, mode, DisplayDevice.Default)
-            let context = new GraphicsContext(GraphicsMode.Default, window.WindowInfo, Config.MajorVersion, Config.MinorVersion, Config.ContextFlags);
+
+            let context =
+                match parent with
+                | Some p ->
+                    new GraphicsContext(GraphicsMode.Default, window.WindowInfo, p.Handle, Config.MajorVersion, Config.MinorVersion, Config.ContextFlags);
+                | _ ->
+                    new GraphicsContext(GraphicsMode.Default, window.WindowInfo, Config.MajorVersion, Config.MinorVersion, Config.ContextFlags);
+
             context.MakeCurrent(window.WindowInfo)
             let ctx = context |> unbox<IGraphicsContextInternal>
             ctx.LoadAll()
@@ -328,4 +336,10 @@ module ContextHandleOpenTK =
         handle.OnDisposed.Add dispose
         handle.Initialize(debug, setDefaultStates = false)
 
-        handle
\ No newline at end of file
+        handle
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Creates a new context using the default configuration.
+    /// </summary>
+    let create (debug : IDebugConfig) =
+        createWithParent debug None
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.Slim.GL/Application.fs b/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.Slim.GL/Application.fs
index 752e14a3..c157d24e 100644
--- a/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.Slim.GL/Application.fs
+++ b/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.Slim.GL/Application.fs
@@ -273,15 +273,18 @@ module private OpenGL =
 
         if old <> NativePtr.zero then
             glfw.MakeContextCurrent old
-        
-        let signature =
-            runtime.CreateFramebufferSignature([
-                DefaultSemantic.Colors, TextureFormat.Rgba8
-                DefaultSemantic.DepthStencil, TextureFormat.Depth24Stencil8
-            ], samples)
 
         let handle = new Aardvark.Rendering.GL.ContextHandle(ctx, info)
-        do handle.Initialize(runtime.DebugConfig, setDefaultStates = true)
+
+        let signature =
+            handle.Use (fun _ ->
+                handle.Initialize(runtime.DebugConfig, setDefaultStates = true)
+
+                runtime.CreateFramebufferSignature([
+                    DefaultSemantic.Colors, TextureFormat.Rgba8
+                    DefaultSemantic.DepthStencil, TextureFormat.Depth24Stencil8
+                ], samples)
+            )
 
         { new IWindowSurface with
             override x.Signature = signature
@@ -336,14 +339,18 @@ module private OpenGL =
 type OpenGlApplication private (runtime : Runtime, shaderCachePath : Option<string>, hideCocoaMenuBar : bool) as this =
     inherit Application(runtime, OpenGL.interop runtime.DebugConfig, hideCocoaMenuBar)
 
-    let createContext() =
-        let w = this.Instance.CreateWindow WindowConfig.Default
-        let h = w.Surface.Handle :?> Aardvark.Rendering.GL.ContextHandle
-        this.Instance.RemoveExistingWindow w
-        h.OnDisposed.Add w.Dispose
-        h
-
-    let ctx = new Context(runtime, fun () -> this.Instance.Invoke createContext)
+    // Note: We ignore the passed parent since we determine the parent context in the CreateWindow method.
+    // This is always the first created context and should therefore match the passed one anyway.
+    let createContext (_parent : Aardvark.Rendering.GL.ContextHandle option) =
+        this.Instance.Invoke (fun _ ->
+            let w = this.Instance.CreateWindow WindowConfig.Default
+            let h = w.Surface.Handle :?> Aardvark.Rendering.GL.ContextHandle
+            this.Instance.RemoveExistingWindow w
+            h.OnDisposed.Add w.Dispose
+            h
+        )
+
+    let ctx = new Context(runtime, createContext)
 
     do ctx.ShaderCachePath <- shaderCachePath
        runtime.Initialize(ctx)
diff --git a/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.Slim/GLFW.fs b/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.Slim/GLFW.fs
index 9f2181fb..f1b39beb 100644
--- a/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.Slim/GLFW.fs
+++ b/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.Slim/GLFW.fs
@@ -588,9 +588,11 @@ type Instance(runtime : Aardvark.Rendering.IRuntime, interop : IWindowInterop, h
 
     // For GL we need to specify a parent window to enable context sharing
     // Simply use the one that was created first, assuming it is still valid and unused.
-    // Obviously this is not a safe assumption, but should at least be more reliable than
-    // using the last created one.
+    // If GL.RuntimeConfig.RobustContextSharing is false, this will be a resource context which
+    // may not always be available. If the flag is true, this will be a hidden context that
+    // is guaranteed to be available.
     let mutable parentWindow : nativeptr<WindowHandle> option = None
+
     let queue = System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentQueue<unit -> unit>()
 
     let existingWindows = System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentHashSet<Window>()
diff --git a/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.WPF.GL/Application.fs b/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.WPF.GL/Application.fs
index 578bea46..bc05865e 100644
--- a/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.WPF.GL/Application.fs
+++ b/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.WPF.GL/Application.fs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ type OpenGlApplication(forceNvidia : bool, debug : IDebugConfig, shaderCachePath
        OpenTK.Toolkit.Init(new OpenTK.ToolkitOptions(Backend=OpenTK.PlatformBackend.PreferNative)) |> ignore
 
     let runtime = new Runtime(debug)
-    let ctx = new Context(runtime, fun () -> ContextHandleOpenTK.create debug)
+    let ctx = new Context(runtime, ContextHandleOpenTK.createWithParent debug)
 
     do ctx.ShaderCachePath <- shaderCachePath
        runtime.Initialize(ctx)
diff --git a/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.WinForms.GL/Application.fs b/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.WinForms.GL/Application.fs
index eddee907..1e0219ce 100644
--- a/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.WinForms.GL/Application.fs
+++ b/src/Application/Aardvark.Application.WinForms.GL/Application.fs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ type OpenGlApplication(forceNvidia : bool, debug : IDebugConfig, shaderCachePath
        with e -> Report.Warn("Could not set UnhandledExceptionMode.")
 
     let runtime = new Runtime(debug)
-    let ctx = new Context(runtime, fun () -> ContextHandleOpenTK.create debug)
+    let ctx = new Context(runtime, ContextHandleOpenTK.createWithParent debug)
 
     do ctx.ShaderCachePath <- shaderCachePath
        runtime.Initialize(ctx)
diff --git a/src/Tests/Aardvark.Rendering.Tests/Tests/Application.fs b/src/Tests/Aardvark.Rendering.Tests/Tests/Application.fs
index d767735c..7c98928f 100644
--- a/src/Tests/Aardvark.Rendering.Tests/Tests/Application.fs
+++ b/src/Tests/Aardvark.Rendering.Tests/Tests/Application.fs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ module TestApplication =
             let toolkit = Toolkit.Init(ToolkitOptions(Backend = PlatformBackend.PreferNative))
 
             let runtime = new Runtime(debug)
-            let ctx = new Context(runtime, fun () -> ContextHandleOpenTK.create runtime.DebugConfig)
+            let ctx = new Context(runtime, ContextHandleOpenTK.createWithParent runtime.DebugConfig)
 
             runtime.Initialize(ctx)
 
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ module TestApplication =
             Config.MajorVersion <- 4
             Config.MinorVersion <- 6
             RuntimeConfig.UseNewRenderTask <- true
+            RuntimeConfig.RobustContextSharing <- true
             RuntimeConfig.PreferHostSideTextureCompression <- true
 
             let app =