diff --git a/sky/shell/gpu/direct/ganesh_canvas.cc b/sky/shell/gpu/direct/ganesh_canvas.cc
index 2a3c2a4df93e73a27d048c1390a818942854ae50..399325c01fb196160967100426c04f665d14faea 100644
--- a/sky/shell/gpu/direct/ganesh_canvas.cc
+++ b/sky/shell/gpu/direct/ganesh_canvas.cc
@@ -27,14 +27,18 @@ GaneshCanvas::GaneshCanvas() {
 GaneshCanvas::~GaneshCanvas() {
 }
 
-void GaneshCanvas::SetupGrGLInterface() {
+bool GaneshCanvas::SetupGrGLInterface() {
   sk_surface_ = nullptr;
   gr_context_ = skia::AdoptRef(GrContext::Create(
       kOpenGL_GrBackend,
       reinterpret_cast<GrBackendContext>(GrGLCreateNativeInterface())));
-  DCHECK(gr_context_);
+
+  if (!gr_context_)
+    return false;
+
   gr_context_->setResourceCacheLimits(kMaxGaneshResourceCacheCount,
                                       kMaxGaneshResourceCacheBytes);
+  return true;
 }
 
 bool GaneshCanvas::SelectPixelConfig(GrPixelConfig* config) {
diff --git a/sky/shell/gpu/direct/ganesh_canvas.h b/sky/shell/gpu/direct/ganesh_canvas.h
index 16c652c539ac22376090bdfaa3298d3ee7c872e9..e4537dd2280b02f33de4e1d431c4d7cf2a0c09b0 100644
--- a/sky/shell/gpu/direct/ganesh_canvas.h
+++ b/sky/shell/gpu/direct/ganesh_canvas.h
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class GaneshCanvas {
   GaneshCanvas();
   ~GaneshCanvas();
 
-  void SetupGrGLInterface();
+  bool SetupGrGLInterface();
 
   SkCanvas* GetCanvas(int32_t fbo, const SkISize& size);
 
diff --git a/sky/shell/gpu/direct/rasterizer_direct.cc b/sky/shell/gpu/direct/rasterizer_direct.cc
index 242b58004cc1b79e857f0cedf21249095f1e0522..cecb6a8c241475315b1ae89047aa3ba96821aa88 100644
--- a/sky/shell/gpu/direct/rasterizer_direct.cc
+++ b/sky/shell/gpu/direct/rasterizer_direct.cc
@@ -52,12 +52,19 @@ void RasterizerDirect::Setup(PlatformView* platform_view,
   // The context needs to be made current before the GrGL interface can be
   // setup.
   bool success = platform_view->ContextMakeCurrent();
+  if (success) {
+    success = ganesh_canvas_.SetupGrGLInterface();
+    if (!success)
+      LOG(ERROR) << "Could not create the GL interface";
+  } else {
+    LOG(ERROR) << "Could not make the context current for initial GL setup";
+  }
 
-  CHECK(success) << "Could not make the context current for initial GL setup";
-
-  ganesh_canvas_.SetupGrGLInterface();
-
-  platform_view_ = platform_view;
+  if (success) {
+    platform_view_ = platform_view;
+  } else {
+    LOG(ERROR) << "WARNING: Flutter will be unable to render to the display";
+  }
 
   continuation.Run();
 
@@ -80,6 +87,11 @@ void RasterizerDirect::Draw(uint64_t layer_tree_ptr,
                             const DrawCallback& callback) {
   TRACE_EVENT0("flutter", "RasterizerDirect::Draw");
 
+  if (platform_view_ == nullptr) {
+    callback.Run();
+    return;
+  }
+
   std::unique_ptr<flow::LayerTree> layer_tree(
       reinterpret_cast<flow::LayerTree*>(layer_tree_ptr));
 
@@ -88,8 +100,7 @@ void RasterizerDirect::Draw(uint64_t layer_tree_ptr,
     platform_view_->Resize(size);
   }
 
-  if (platform_view_ == nullptr || !platform_view_->ContextMakeCurrent() ||
-      !layer_tree->root_layer()) {
+  if (!platform_view_->ContextMakeCurrent() || !layer_tree->root_layer()) {
     callback.Run();
     return;
   }