diff --git a/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/D3DBase.cpp b/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/D3DBase.cpp
index 02300fdbd2..5eddcf2b63 100644
--- a/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/D3DBase.cpp
+++ b/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/D3DBase.cpp
@@ -82,6 +82,22 @@ LPDIRECT3DVERTEXDECLARATION9 m_VtxDecl;
 LPDIRECT3DPIXELSHADER9 m_PixelShader;
 LPDIRECT3DVERTEXSHADER9 m_VertexShader;
 
+// Z buffer formats to be used for EFB depth surface
+D3DFORMAT DepthFormats[] = {
+	FOURCC_INTZ,
+	FOURCC_DF24,
+	FOURCC_RAWZ,
+	FOURCC_DF16,
+	D3DFMT_D24X8,
+	D3DFMT_D24X4S4,
+	D3DFMT_D24S8,
+	D3DFMT_D24FS8,
+	D3DFMT_D32,		// too much precision, but who cares
+	D3DFMT_D16,		// much lower precision, but better than nothing
+	D3DFMT_D15S1,
+};
+
+
 void Enumerate();
 
 int GetNumAdapters() { return numAdapters; }
@@ -469,6 +485,24 @@ bool CheckDepthStencilSupport(D3DFORMAT target_format, D3DFORMAT depth_format)
 	return D3D_OK == D3D->CheckDepthStencilMatch(cur_adapter, D3DDEVTYPE_HAL, D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8, target_format, depth_format);
 }
 
+D3DFORMAT GetSupportedDepthTextureFormat()
+{
+	for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(DepthFormats)/sizeof(D3DFORMAT); ++i)
+		if (D3D::CheckTextureSupport(D3DUSAGE_DEPTHSTENCIL, DepthFormats[i]))
+			return DepthFormats[i];
+
+	return D3DFMT_UNKNOWN;
+}
+
+D3DFORMAT GetSupportedDepthSurfaceFormat(D3DFORMAT target_format)
+{
+	for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(DepthFormats)/sizeof(D3DFORMAT); ++i)
+		if (D3D::CheckDepthStencilSupport(target_format, DepthFormats[i]))
+			return DepthFormats[i];
+
+	return D3DFMT_UNKNOWN;
+}
+
 const char *VertexShaderVersionString()
 {
 	static const char *versions[5] = {"ERROR", "vs_1_4", "vs_2_0", "vs_3_0", "vs_4_0"};
diff --git a/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/D3DBase.h b/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/D3DBase.h
index a3b7b8e26e..c337c8ab0e 100644
--- a/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/D3DBase.h
+++ b/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/D3DBase.h
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ bool FixTextureSize(int& width, int& height);
 bool CheckTextureSupport(DWORD usage, D3DFORMAT tex_format);
 bool CheckDepthStencilSupport(D3DFORMAT target_format, D3DFORMAT depth_format);
 
+D3DFORMAT GetSupportedDepthTextureFormat();
+D3DFORMAT GetSupportedDepthSurfaceFormat(D3DFORMAT target_format);
+
 // The following are "filtered" versions of the corresponding D3Ddev-> functions.
 void SetTexture(DWORD Stage, IDirect3DBaseTexture9 *pTexture);
 void SetRenderState(D3DRENDERSTATETYPE State, DWORD Value);
diff --git a/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/FramebufferManager.cpp b/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/FramebufferManager.cpp
index 1ff4f38fb7..3d4f2709b0 100644
--- a/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/FramebufferManager.cpp
+++ b/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/FramebufferManager.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ FramebufferManager::Efb FramebufferManager::s_efb;
 
 FramebufferManager::FramebufferManager()
 {
+	bool depth_textures_supported = true;
 	int target_width = Renderer::GetFullTargetWidth();
 	int target_height = Renderer::GetFullTargetHeight();
 	s_efb.color_surface_Format = D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8;
@@ -59,35 +60,17 @@ FramebufferManager::FramebufferManager()
 	hr = D3D::dev->CreateOffscreenPlainSurface(1, 1, s_efb.color_surface_Format, D3DPOOL_SYSTEMMEM, &s_efb.color_OffScreenReadBuffer, NULL);
 	CHECK(hr, "Create offscreen color surface (hr=%#x)", hr);
 
-	// Select a Z-buffer format with hardware support
-	D3DFORMAT DepthTexFormats[] = {
-		FOURCC_INTZ,
-		FOURCC_DF24,
-		FOURCC_RAWZ,
-		FOURCC_DF16,
-		D3DFMT_D24X8,
-		D3DFMT_D24X4S4,
-		D3DFMT_D24S8,
-		D3DFMT_D24FS8,
-		D3DFMT_D32,		// too much precision, but who cares
-		D3DFMT_D16,		// much lower precision, but better than nothing
-		D3DFMT_D15S1,
-	};
-
-	// check format support
-	for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(DepthTexFormats)/sizeof(D3DFORMAT); ++i)
-	{
-		if (D3D::CheckTextureSupport(D3DUSAGE_DEPTHSTENCIL, DepthTexFormats[i]))
-		{
-			s_efb.depth_surface_Format = DepthTexFormats[i];
-			break;
-		}
-	}
+	// Select a Z-buffer texture format with hardware support
+	s_efb.depth_surface_Format = D3D::GetSupportedDepthTextureFormat();
 	if (s_efb.depth_surface_Format == D3DFMT_UNKNOWN)
 	{
-		PanicAlert("No supported depth format found, disabling depth buffers.\nExpect glitches.");
+		// workaround for Intel GPUs etc: only create a depth _surface_
+		depth_textures_supported = false;
+		s_efb.depth_surface_Format = D3D::GetSupportedDepthSurfaceFormat(s_efb.color_surface_Format);
+		ERROR_LOG(VIDEO, "No supported depth texture format found, disabling Z peeks for EFB access.");
 	}
-	else
+
+	if (depth_textures_supported)
 	{
 		// EFB depth buffer - primary depth buffer
 		hr = D3D::dev->CreateTexture(target_width, target_height, 1, D3DUSAGE_DEPTHSTENCIL, s_efb.depth_surface_Format, 
@@ -96,6 +79,7 @@ FramebufferManager::FramebufferManager()
 		CHECK(hr, "Framebuffer depth texture (size: %dx%d; hr=%#x)", target_width, target_height, hr);
 
 		// Render buffer for AccessEFB (depth data)
+		D3DFORMAT DepthTexFormats[2];
 		if (s_efb.depth_surface_Format == FOURCC_RAWZ || s_efb.depth_surface_Format == D3DFMT_D24X8)
 			DepthTexFormats[0] = D3DFMT_A8R8G8B8;
 		else
@@ -120,6 +104,12 @@ FramebufferManager::FramebufferManager()
 		hr = D3D::dev->CreateOffscreenPlainSurface(4, 4, s_efb.depth_ReadBuffer_Format, D3DPOOL_SYSTEMMEM, &s_efb.depth_OffScreenReadBuffer, NULL);
 		CHECK(hr, "Create depth offscreen surface (hr=%#x)", hr);
 	}
+	else if (s_efb.depth_surface_Format)
+	{
+		// just create a depth surface
+		hr = D3D::dev->CreateDepthStencilSurface(target_width, target_height, s_efb.depth_surface_Format, D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE, 0, FALSE, &s_efb.depth_surface, NULL);
+		CHECK(hr, "Framebuffer depth surface (size: %dx%d; hr=%#x)", target_width, target_height, hr);
+	}
 
 	// ReinterpretPixelData - EFB color data will be copy-converted to this texture and the buffers are swapped then
 	hr = D3D::dev->CreateTexture(target_width, target_height, 1, D3DUSAGE_RENDERTARGET, s_efb.color_surface_Format,
diff --git a/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/Render.cpp b/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/Render.cpp
index 8001f93202..596702283a 100644
--- a/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/Render.cpp
+++ b/Source/Plugins/Plugin_VideoDX9/Src/Render.cpp
@@ -513,6 +513,11 @@ u32 Renderer::AccessEFB(EFBAccessType type, u32 x, u32 y, u32 poke_data)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	// if depth textures aren't supported by the hardware, just return
+	if (type == PEEK_Z)
+		if (FramebufferManager::GetEFBDepthTexture() == NULL)
+			return 0;
+
 	// We're using three surfaces here:
 	// - pEFBSurf: EFB Surface. Source surface when peeking, destination surface when poking.
 	// - pBufferRT: A render target surface. When peeking, we render a textured quad to this surface.
@@ -646,7 +651,7 @@ u32 Renderer::AccessEFB(EFBAccessType type, u32 x, u32 y, u32 poke_data)
 			val +=	((float)(z & 0xFF)) * ffrac;
 			break;
 		};
-		
+
 
 		pSystemBuf->UnlockRect();
 		// TODO: in RE0 this value is often off by one, which causes lighting to disappear