diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index af3fd0b..b3e46cb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Requirements
 - libxcb-util
 - libpam-dev
 - libcairo-dev
+- libxcb-composite0
 - libxcb-xinerama
 - libxcb-randr
 - libev
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 9171521..57ad7f4 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ AC_SEARCH_LIBS([iconv_open], [iconv], , [AC_MSG_FAILURE([cannot find the require
 
 dnl Each prefix corresponds to a source tarball which users might have
 dnl downloaded in a newer version and would like to overwrite.
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES([XCB], [xcb xcb-xkb xcb-xinerama xcb-randr])
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES([XCB], [xcb xcb-xkb xcb-xinerama xcb-randr xcb-composite])
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([XCB_IMAGE], [xcb-image])
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([XCB_UTIL], [xcb-event xcb-util xcb-atom])
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([XCB_UTIL_XRM], [xcb-xrm])
diff --git a/i3lock.1 b/i3lock.1
index 434638b..ba98e9f 100644
--- a/i3lock.1
+++ b/i3lock.1
@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ Lock the console to disable TTY switching (Linux only).
 Enables debug logging.
 Note, that this will log the password used for authentication to stdout.
 
+.TP
+.B \-o, \-\-use-composite-overlay
+Use the composite overlay window. For some compositors it might fix windows
+appearing on top of the lock screen, for other compositors it might break.
+
 .SH DPMS
 
 The \-d (\-\-dpms) option was removed from i3lock in version 2.8. There were
diff --git a/i3lock.c b/i3lock.c
index 43829c5..3d7b36d 100644
--- a/i3lock.c
+++ b/i3lock.c
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ extern auth_state_t auth_state;
 int failed_attempts = 0;
 bool show_failed_attempts = false;
 bool retry_verification = false;
+bool use_composite_overlay = false;
 
 static struct xkb_state *xkb_state;
 static struct xkb_context *xkb_context;
@@ -895,6 +896,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         {"inactivity-timeout", required_argument, NULL, 'I'},
         {"show-failed-attempts", no_argument, NULL, 'f'},
         {"lock-console", no_argument, NULL, 'l'},
+        {"use-composite-overlay", no_argument, NULL, 'o'},
         {NULL, no_argument, NULL, 0}};
 
     if ((pw = getpwuid(getuid())) == NULL)
@@ -967,9 +969,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                 errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "TTY switch locking is only supported on Linux.");
 #endif
                 break;
+            case 'o':
+                use_composite_overlay = true;
+                break;
             default:
                 errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "Syntax: i3lock [-v] [-n] [-b] [-d] [-c color] [-u] [-p win|default]"
-                                   " [-i image.png] [-t] [-e] [-I timeout] [-f] [-l]");
+                                   " [-i image.png] [-t] [-e] [-I timeout] [-f] [-l] [-o]");
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/travis/Dockerfile b/travis/Dockerfile
index 5381276..d58e8a3 100644
--- a/travis/Dockerfile
+++ b/travis/Dockerfile
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
     build-essential clang git autoconf automake libxcb-randr0-dev pkg-config libpam0g-dev \
     libcairo2-dev libxcb1-dev libxcb-dpms0-dev libxcb-image0-dev libxcb-util0-dev \
     libxcb-xrm-dev libev-dev libxcb-xinerama0-dev libxcb-xkb-dev libxkbcommon-dev \
-    libxkbcommon-x11-dev && \
+    libxkbcommon-x11-dev libxcb-composite0-dev && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 WORKDIR /usr/src
diff --git a/xcb.c b/xcb.c
index 4f06554..eb5c8cc 100644
--- a/xcb.c
+++ b/xcb.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <xcb/xcb_image.h>
 #include <xcb/xcb_atom.h>
 #include <xcb/xcb_aux.h>
+#include <xcb/composite.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@
 #include "unlock_indicator.h"
 
 extern auth_state_t auth_state;
+extern bool use_composite_overlay;
 
 xcb_connection_t *conn;
 xcb_screen_t *screen;
@@ -107,6 +109,32 @@ xcb_window_t open_fullscreen_window(xcb_connection_t *conn, xcb_screen_t *scr, c
     uint32_t mask = 0;
     uint32_t values[3];
     xcb_window_t win = xcb_generate_id(conn);
+    xcb_window_t parent_win = scr->root;
+
+    /* Check whether the composite extension is available */
+
+    if (use_composite_overlay) {
+        const xcb_query_extension_reply_t *extension_query = NULL;
+        xcb_generic_error_t *error = NULL;
+        xcb_composite_get_overlay_window_cookie_t cookie;
+        xcb_composite_get_overlay_window_reply_t *composite_reply = NULL;
+
+        extension_query = xcb_get_extension_data(conn, &xcb_composite_id);
+        if (extension_query && extension_query->present) {
+            /* When composition is used, we need to use the composite overlay
+             * window instead of the normal root window to be able to cover
+             * composited windows */
+            cookie = xcb_composite_get_overlay_window(conn, scr->root);
+            composite_reply = xcb_composite_get_overlay_window_reply(conn, cookie, &error);
+
+            if (!error && composite_reply) {
+                parent_win = composite_reply->overlay_win;
+            }
+
+            free(composite_reply);
+            free(error);
+        }
+    }
 
     if (pixmap == XCB_NONE) {
         mask |= XCB_CW_BACK_PIXEL;
@@ -128,8 +156,8 @@ xcb_window_t open_fullscreen_window(xcb_connection_t *conn, xcb_screen_t *scr, c
 
     xcb_create_window(conn,
                       XCB_COPY_FROM_PARENT,
-                      win,       /* the window id */
-                      scr->root, /* parent == root */
+                      win, /* the window id */
+                      parent_win,
                       0, 0,
                       scr->width_in_pixels,
                       scr->height_in_pixels, /* dimensions */