diff --git a/src/gui/kernel/qopenglcontext.cpp b/src/gui/kernel/qopenglcontext.cpp
index b52fcfe796..90c54c4039 100644
--- a/src/gui/kernel/qopenglcontext.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/kernel/qopenglcontext.cpp
@@ -1204,6 +1204,31 @@ bool QOpenGLContext::supportsThreadedOpenGL()
     return QGuiApplicationPrivate::instance()->platformIntegration()->hasCapability(QPlatformIntegration::ThreadedOpenGL);
 }
 
+/*!
+    \since 5.5
+
+    Returns the application-wide shared OpenGL context, if present.
+    Otherwise, returns a null pointer.
+
+    This is useful if you need to upload OpenGL objects (buffers, textures,
+    etc.) before creating or showing a QOpenGLWidget or QQuickWidget.
+
+    \note You must set the Qt::AA_ShareOpenGLContexts flag on QGuiApplication
+    before creating the QGuiApplication object, otherwise Qt may not create a
+    global shared context.
+
+    \warning Do not attempt to make the context returned by this function
+    current on any surface. Instead, you can create a new context which shares
+    with the global one, and then make the new context current.
+
+    \sa Qt::AA_ShareOpenGLContexts, setShareContext(), makeCurrent()
+*/
+QOpenGLContext *QOpenGLContext::globalShareContext()
+{
+    Q_ASSERT(qGuiApp);
+    return qt_gl_global_share_context();
+}
+
 /*!
     \internal
 */
diff --git a/src/gui/kernel/qopenglcontext.h b/src/gui/kernel/qopenglcontext.h
index 4d5ee08a1b..30a9bc3ad9 100644
--- a/src/gui/kernel/qopenglcontext.h
+++ b/src/gui/kernel/qopenglcontext.h
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ public:
     bool isOpenGLES() const;
 
     static bool supportsThreadedOpenGL();
+    static QOpenGLContext *globalShareContext();
 
 Q_SIGNALS:
     void aboutToBeDestroyed();