diff --git a/composite.cpp b/composite.cpp
index abf0e9dbbb..28e00b5278 100644
--- a/composite.cpp
+++ b/composite.cpp
@@ -536,6 +536,22 @@ void Workspace::delayedCheckUnredirect()
     scene->overlayWindow()->setShape(reg);
 }
 
+
+bool Workspace::compositingPossible() const
+{
+    return CompositingPrefs::compositingPossible();
+}
+
+QString Workspace::compositingNotPossibleReason() const
+{
+    return CompositingPrefs::compositingNotPossibleReason();
+}
+
+bool Workspace::openGLIsBroken() const
+{
+    return CompositingPrefs::openGlIsBroken();
+}
+
 //****************************************
 // Toplevel
 //****************************************
diff --git a/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/CMakeLists.txt b/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/CMakeLists.txt
index decc6b71f6..17fcbb4976 100644
--- a/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@ include_directories( ${KDEBASE_WORKSPACE_SOURCE_DIR}/kwin )
 set(kcm_kwincompositing_PART_SRCS
     main.cpp
     ktimerdialog.cpp
-    ${KDEBASE_WORKSPACE_SOURCE_DIR}/kwin/compositingprefs.cpp
-    ${KDEBASE_WORKSPACE_SOURCE_DIR}/kwin/libkwineffects/kwinglobals.cpp
-    ${KDEBASE_WORKSPACE_SOURCE_DIR}/kwin/libkwineffects/kwinglplatform.cpp
     )
 kde4_add_ui_files(kcm_kwincompositing_PART_SRCS main.ui)
 set(kwin_xml ${KDEBASE_WORKSPACE_SOURCE_DIR}/kwin/org.kde.KWin.xml)
@@ -17,36 +14,6 @@ kde4_add_plugin(kcm_kwincompositing ${kcm_kwincompositing_PART_SRCS})
 target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing ${KDE4_KCMUTILS_LIBS} ${KDE4_KDEUI_LIBS} ${X11_LIBRARIES})
 install(TARGETS kcm_kwincompositing  DESTINATION ${PLUGIN_INSTALL_DIR} )
 
-# CompositingPrefs uses OpenGL
-if(OPENGL_FOUND)
-  target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing kwinglutils ${OPENGL_gl_LIBRARY})
-  set_target_properties(kcm_kwincompositing PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS -DKWIN_HAVE_OPENGL)
-  # -ldl used by OpenGL code
-  find_library(DL_LIBRARY dl)
-  if (DL_LIBRARY)
-    target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing ${DL_LIBRARY})
-  endif(DL_LIBRARY)
-endif(OPENGL_FOUND)
-if(OPENGLES_FOUND)
-  target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing kwinglesutils ${OPENGLES_LIBRARIES})
-  set_target_properties(kcm_kwincompositing PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-DKWIN_HAVE_OPENGL -DKWIN_HAVE_OPENGLES")
-endif(OPENGLES_FOUND)
-if (X11_Xrender_FOUND)
-  target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing ${X11_Xrender_LIB})
-endif (X11_Xrender_FOUND)
-if (X11_Xrandr_FOUND)
-  target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing ${X11_Xrandr_LIB})
-endif (X11_Xrandr_FOUND)
-if (X11_Xcomposite_FOUND)
-  target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing ${X11_Xcomposite_LIB})
-endif (X11_Xcomposite_FOUND)
-if (X11_Xdamage_FOUND)
-  target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing ${X11_Xdamage_LIB})
-endif (X11_Xdamage_FOUND)
-if (X11_Xfixes_FOUND)
-  target_link_libraries(kcm_kwincompositing ${X11_Xfixes_LIB})
-endif (X11_Xfixes_FOUND)
-
 
 ########### install files ###############
 
diff --git a/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/main.cpp b/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/main.cpp
index 19a2469ea3..34ecae139d 100644
--- a/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/main.cpp
+++ b/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/main.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #include "main.h"
 
 #include "kwin_interface.h"
+#include "kwinglobals.h"
 
 #include <kaboutdata.h>
 #include <kaction.h>
@@ -385,19 +386,18 @@ void KWinCompositingConfig::updateStatusUI(bool compositingIsPossible)
         ui.compositingOptionsContainer->show();
         ui.statusTitleWidget->hide();
         ui.rearmGlSupport->hide();
-
-        // Driver-specific config detection
-        mDefaultPrefs.detect();
     }
     else {
+        OrgKdeKWinInterface kwin("org.kde.kwin", "/KWin", QDBusConnection::sessionBus());
         ui.compositingOptionsContainer->hide();
         QString text = i18n("Desktop effects are not available on this system due to the following technical issues:");
         text += "<hr>";
-        text += CompositingPrefs::compositingNotPossibleReason();
+        text += kwin.isValid() ? kwin.compositingNotPossibleReason() : i18nc("Reason shown when trying to activate desktop effects and KWin (most likely) crashes",
+                                                                             "Window Manager seems not to be running");
         ui.statusTitleWidget->setText(text);
         ui.statusTitleWidget->setPixmap(KTitleWidget::InfoMessage, KTitleWidget::ImageLeft);
         ui.statusTitleWidget->show();
-        ui.rearmGlSupport->setVisible(CompositingPrefs::openGlIsBroken());
+        ui.rearmGlSupport->setVisible(kwin.isValid() ? kwin.openGLIsBroken() : true);
     }
 }
 
@@ -405,7 +405,8 @@ void KWinCompositingConfig::load()
 {
     initEffectSelector();
     mKWinConfig->reparseConfiguration();
-    updateStatusUI(CompositingPrefs::compositingPossible());
+    QDBusMessage msg = QDBusMessage::createMethodCall("org.kde.kwin", "/KWin", "org.kde.KWin", "compositingPossible");
+    QDBusConnection::sessionBus().callWithCallback(msg, this, SLOT(updateStatusUI(bool)));
 
     // Copy Plugins group to temp config file
     QMap<QString, QString> entries = mKWinConfig->entryMap("Plugins");
@@ -515,8 +516,9 @@ bool KWinCompositingConfig::saveAdvancedTab()
 
 void KWinCompositingConfig::save()
 {
+    OrgKdeKWinInterface kwin("org.kde.kwin", "/KWin", QDBusConnection::sessionBus());
     if (ui.compositingType->currentIndex() == OPENGL_INDEX &&
-        CompositingPrefs::openGlIsBroken() && !ui.rearmGlSupport->isVisible())
+        kwin.openGLIsBroken() && !ui.rearmGlSupport->isVisible())
     {
         KConfigGroup config(mKWinConfig, "Compositing");
         QString oldBackend = config.readEntry("Backend", "OpenGL");
diff --git a/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/main.h b/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/main.h
index 8e2f3bb65a..94c62deea7 100644
--- a/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/main.h
+++ b/kcmkwin/kwincompositing/main.h
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #include "kwin_interface.h"
 
 #include "ui_main.h"
-#include "compositingprefs.h"
 #include "ktimerdialog.h"
 
 class KPluginSelector;
@@ -80,14 +79,13 @@ private slots:
     void suggestGraphicsSystem();
     void toogleSmoothScaleUi(int compositingType);
     void toggleEffectShortcutChanged(const QKeySequence &seq);
+    void updateStatusUI(bool compositingIsPossible);
 
 private:
     bool effectEnabled(const QString& effect, const KConfigGroup& cfg) const;
-    void updateStatusUI(bool compositingIsPossible);
 
     KSharedConfigPtr mKWinConfig;
     Ui::KWinCompositingConfig ui;
-    CompositingPrefs mDefaultPrefs;
 
     QMap<QString, QString> mPreviousConfig;
     KTemporaryFile mTmpConfigFile;
diff --git a/org.kde.KWin.xml b/org.kde.KWin.xml
index a0b3a29e30..b893bec24b 100644
--- a/org.kde.KWin.xml
+++ b/org.kde.KWin.xml
@@ -85,6 +85,15 @@
     </method>
     <method name="supportInformation">
         <arg type="s" direction="out"/>
-    </medthod>
+    </method>
+    <method name="compositingPossible">
+        <arg type="b" direction="out"/>
+    </method>
+    <method name="compositingNotPossibleReason">
+        <arg type="s" direction="out"/>
+    </method>
+    <method name="openGLIsBroken">
+        <arg type="b" direction="out"/>
+    </method>
   </interface>
 </node>
diff --git a/workspace.h b/workspace.h
index 0447f45118..703ab012be 100644
--- a/workspace.h
+++ b/workspace.h
@@ -447,6 +447,9 @@ public:
     bool startActivity(const QString &id);
     QStringList activeEffects() const;
     QString supportInformation() const;
+    bool compositingPossible() const;
+    QString compositingNotPossibleReason() const;
+    bool openGLIsBroken() const;
 
     void setCurrentScreen(int new_screen);