diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index ce19fdc890..c6e054da2a 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -176,18 +176,6 @@ enum
 #define DEFAULT_ASPECT_RATIO -1.0f
 #endif
 
-#if defined(_XBOX360)
-#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_HLSL
-#elif defined(__PSL1GHT__)
-#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_GLSL
-#elif defined(__CELLOS_LV2__)
-#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_CG
-#elif defined(ANDROID)
-#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_GLSL
-#else
-#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_AUTO
-#endif
-
 #ifdef HAVE_DYNAMIC
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #define EXT_EXECUTABLES "dll|DLL"
@@ -260,6 +248,9 @@ static const bool video_smooth = true;
 // On resize and fullscreen, rendering area will stay 4:3
 static const bool force_aspect = true; 
 
+// Enable use of shaders.
+static const bool shader_enable = false;
+
 // Only scale in integer steps.
 // The base size depends on system-reported geometry and aspect ratio.
 // If video_force_aspect is not set, X/Y will be integer scaled independently.
diff --git a/driver.h b/driver.h
index bebb720152..46578e1906 100644
--- a/driver.h
+++ b/driver.h
@@ -143,10 +143,21 @@ enum rarch_shader_type
    RARCH_SHADER_CG,
    RARCH_SHADER_HLSL,
    RARCH_SHADER_GLSL,
-   RARCH_SHADER_AUTO,
    RARCH_SHADER_NONE
 };
 
+#if defined(_XBOX360)
+#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_HLSL
+#elif defined(__PSL1GHT__)
+#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_GLSL
+#elif defined(__CELLOS_LV2__)
+#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_CG
+#elif defined(HAVE_OPENGLES2)
+#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_GLSL
+#else
+#define DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE RARCH_SHADER_NONE
+#endif
+
 enum rarch_shader_index
 {
    RARCH_SHADER_INDEX_MULTIPASS = 0,
diff --git a/general.h b/general.h
index 3b92ae01a8..7299e53069 100644
--- a/general.h
+++ b/general.h
@@ -176,10 +176,11 @@ struct settings
       bool aspect_ratio_auto;
       bool scale_integer;
       unsigned aspect_ratio_idx;
-      char cg_shader_path[PATH_MAX];
-      char xml_shader_path[PATH_MAX];
+
+      char shader_path[PATH_MAX];
+      bool shader_enable;
+
       char filter_path[PATH_MAX];
-      enum rarch_shader_type shader_type;
       float refresh_rate;
       bool threaded;
 
diff --git a/gfx/gl.c b/gfx/gl.c
index 327ceebe2a..bfda3da8b1 100644
--- a/gfx/gl.c
+++ b/gfx/gl.c
@@ -245,63 +245,33 @@ static inline bool load_gl_proc_win32(gl_t *gl)
 
 ////////////////// Shaders
 
-#ifdef HAVE_OPENGLES2
-static bool gl_shader_init(void *data) // We always need a shader alive in GLES2.
-{
-   gl_t *gl = (gl_t*)data;
-   const char *shader_path = NULL;
-   if ((g_settings.video.shader_type == RARCH_SHADER_AUTO || g_settings.video.shader_type == RARCH_SHADER_GLSL)
-         && *g_settings.video.xml_shader_path)
-      shader_path = g_settings.video.xml_shader_path;
-
-   gl->shader = &gl_glsl_backend;
-   return gl->shader->init(shader_path);
-}
-#else
 static bool gl_shader_init(void *data)
 {
    gl_t *gl = (gl_t*)data;
    const gl_shader_backend_t *backend = NULL;
-   const char *shader_path            = NULL;
 
-   switch (g_settings.video.shader_type)
+#if DEFAULT_SHADER == RARCH_SHADER_NONE
+   if (!g_settings.video.shader_enable)
+      return true;
+#endif
+
+   const char *shader_path = *g_settings.video.shader_path ? g_settings.video.shader_path : NULL;
+   enum rarch_shader_type type = gfx_shader_parse_type(g_settings.video.shader_path, DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE);
+
+   if (type == RARCH_SHADER_NONE)
+      return true;
+
+   switch (type)
    {
-      case RARCH_SHADER_AUTO:
-      {
-         if (*g_settings.video.cg_shader_path && *g_settings.video.xml_shader_path)
-            RARCH_WARN("Both Cg and GLSL XML shader are defined in config file. Cg shader will be selected by default.\n");
-
-#ifdef HAVE_CG
-         if (*g_settings.video.cg_shader_path)
-         {
-            backend     = &gl_cg_backend;
-            shader_path = g_settings.video.cg_shader_path;
-         }
-#endif
-
-#ifdef HAVE_GLSL
-         if (*g_settings.video.xml_shader_path)
-         {
-            backend     = &gl_glsl_backend;
-            shader_path = g_settings.video.xml_shader_path;
-         }
-#endif
-         break;
-      }
-
 #ifdef HAVE_CG
       case RARCH_SHADER_CG:
          backend = &gl_cg_backend;
-         if (*g_settings.video.cg_shader_path)
-            shader_path = g_settings.video.cg_shader_path;
          break;
 #endif
 
 #ifdef HAVE_GLSL
       case RARCH_SHADER_GLSL:
          backend = &gl_glsl_backend;
-         if (*g_settings.video.xml_shader_path)
-            shader_path = g_settings.video.xml_shader_path;
          break;
 #endif
 
@@ -315,7 +285,6 @@ static bool gl_shader_init(void *data)
    gl->shader = backend;
    return gl->shader->init(shader_path);
 }
-#endif
 
 void gl_shader_use(void *data, unsigned index)
 {
diff --git a/gfx/shader_parse.c b/gfx/shader_parse.c
index 8c7e70270d..06621d8b55 100644
--- a/gfx/shader_parse.c
+++ b/gfx/shader_parse.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include "shader_parse.h"
 #include "../compat/posix_string.h"
 #include "../msvc/msvc_compat.h"
+#include "../file.h"
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
@@ -509,3 +510,15 @@ void gfx_shader_write_conf_cgp(config_file_t *conf, const struct gfx_shader *sha
    }
 }
 
+enum rarch_shader_type gfx_shader_parse_type(const char *path, enum rarch_shader_type fallback)
+{
+   const char *ext = path_get_extension(path);
+
+   if (strcmp(ext, "cg") == 0 || strcmp(ext, "cgp") == 0)
+      return RARCH_SHADER_CG;
+   else if (strcmp(ext, "shader") == 0)
+      return RARCH_SHADER_GLSL;
+
+   return fallback;
+}
+
diff --git a/gfx/shader_parse.h b/gfx/shader_parse.h
index 09168d7460..64d19fd158 100644
--- a/gfx/shader_parse.h
+++ b/gfx/shader_parse.h
@@ -90,5 +90,7 @@ struct gfx_shader
 bool gfx_shader_read_conf_cgp(config_file_t *conf, struct gfx_shader *shader);
 void gfx_shader_write_conf_cgp(config_file_t *conf, const struct gfx_shader *shader);
 
+enum rarch_shader_type gfx_shader_parse_type(const char *path, enum rarch_shader_type fallback);
+
 #endif
 
diff --git a/retroarch.cfg b/retroarch.cfg
index 2314307df8..5229b55091 100644
--- a/retroarch.cfg
+++ b/retroarch.cfg
@@ -97,17 +97,14 @@
 # Exact behavior of this option is implementation specific.
 # video_crop_overscan = false
 
-# Path to Cg shader.
-# video_cg_shader = "/path/to/cg/shader.cg"
+# Path to shader. Shader can be either Cg, CGP (Cg preset) or XML/GLSL format if support is enabled.
+# video_shader = "/path/to/shader.{cg,cgp,shader}"
 
-# Path to GLSL XML shader. If both Cg shader path and XML shader path are defined, 
-# Cg shader will take priority unless overridden in video_shader_type.
-# video_xml_shader = "/path/to/xml/shader.shader"
+# Load video_shader on startup.
+# Other shaders can still be loaded later in runtime.
+# video_shader_enable = false
 
-# Which shader type to use. Valid values are "cg", "bsnes", "none" and "auto"
-# video_shader_type = auto
-
-# Defines a directory where XML shaders are kept.
+# Defines a directory where shaders (Cg, CGP, XML) are kept for easy access.
 # video_shader_dir =
 
 # CPU-based filter. Path to a bSNES CPU filter (*.filter)
diff --git a/settings.c b/settings.c
index dca5f6c198..6bc16c24f3 100644
--- a/settings.c
+++ b/settings.c
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ void config_set_defaults(void)
    g_settings.video.crop_overscan = crop_overscan;
    g_settings.video.aspect_ratio = aspect_ratio;
    g_settings.video.aspect_ratio_auto = aspect_ratio_auto; // Let implementation decide if automatic, or 1:1 PAR.
-   g_settings.video.shader_type = DEFAULT_SHADER_TYPE;
+   g_settings.video.shader_enable = shader_enable;
    g_settings.video.allow_rotate = allow_rotate;
 
    g_settings.video.font_enable = font_enable;
@@ -440,8 +440,9 @@ bool config_load_file(const char *path)
    CONFIG_GET_BOOL(video.aspect_ratio_auto, "video_aspect_ratio_auto");
    CONFIG_GET_FLOAT(video.refresh_rate, "video_refresh_rate");
 
-   CONFIG_GET_PATH(video.cg_shader_path, "video_cg_shader");
-   CONFIG_GET_PATH(video.xml_shader_path, "video_xml_shader");
+   CONFIG_GET_PATH(video.shader_path, "video_shader");
+   CONFIG_GET_BOOL(video.shader_enable, "video_shader_enable");
+
    CONFIG_GET_BOOL(video.allow_rotate, "video_allow_rotate");
 
    CONFIG_GET_PATH(video.font_path, "video_font_path");
@@ -597,18 +598,6 @@ bool config_load_file(const char *path)
    CONFIG_GET_PATH(video.filter_path, "video_filter");
 #endif
 
-   if (config_get_array(conf, "video_shader_type", tmp_str, sizeof(tmp_str)))
-   {
-      if (strcmp("cg", tmp_str) == 0)
-         g_settings.video.shader_type = RARCH_SHADER_CG;
-      else if (strcmp("bsnes", tmp_str) == 0)
-         g_settings.video.shader_type = RARCH_SHADER_GLSL;
-      else if (strcmp("auto", tmp_str) == 0)
-         g_settings.video.shader_type = RARCH_SHADER_AUTO;
-      else if (strcmp("none", tmp_str) == 0)
-         g_settings.video.shader_type = RARCH_SHADER_NONE;
-   }
-
    CONFIG_GET_PATH(video.shader_dir, "video_shader_dir");
 
    CONFIG_GET_FLOAT(input.axis_threshold, "input_axis_threshold");