diff --git a/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayDevice.cpp b/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayDevice.cpp
index a33b94bd3..18119f692 100644
--- a/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayDevice.cpp
+++ b/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayDevice.cpp
@@ -117,12 +117,10 @@ DisplayDevice::DisplayDevice(
       mSurface(EGL_NO_SURFACE),
       mContext(EGL_NO_CONTEXT),
       mDpiX(), mDpiY(),
-      mRefreshRate(),
       mDensity(),
       mDisplayWidth(), mDisplayHeight(), mFormat(),
       mFlags(),
       mPageFlipCount(),
-      mRefreshPeriod(),
       mSecureLayerVisible(false),
       mScreenAcquired(false),
       mOrientation(),
@@ -160,10 +158,6 @@ float DisplayDevice::getDensity() const {
     return mDensity;
 }
 
-float DisplayDevice::getRefreshRate() const {
-    return mRefreshRate;
-}
-
 int DisplayDevice::getWidth() const {
     return mDisplayWidth;
 }
@@ -180,19 +174,6 @@ EGLSurface DisplayDevice::getEGLSurface() const {
     return mSurface;
 }
 
-status_t DisplayDevice::getInfo(DisplayInfo* info) const {
-    info->w = getWidth();
-    info->h = getHeight();
-    info->xdpi = getDpiX();
-    info->ydpi = getDpiY();
-    info->fps = getRefreshRate();
-    info->density = getDensity();
-    info->orientation = getOrientation();
-    // TODO: this needs to go away (currently needed only by webkit)
-    getPixelFormatInfo(getFormat(), &info->pixelFormatInfo);
-    return NO_ERROR;
-}
-
 void DisplayDevice::init(EGLConfig config)
 {
     ANativeWindow* const window = mNativeWindow.get();
@@ -207,13 +188,6 @@ void DisplayDevice::init(EGLConfig config)
     window->query(window, NATIVE_WINDOW_FORMAT, &format);
     mDpiX = window->xdpi;
     mDpiY = window->ydpi;
-    if (mFramebufferSurface != NULL) {
-        mRefreshRate = mFramebufferSurface->getRefreshRate();
-    } else {
-        mRefreshRate = 60;
-    }
-    mRefreshPeriod = nsecs_t(1e9 / mRefreshRate);
-
 
     // TODO: Not sure if display density should handled by SF any longer
     class Density {
@@ -279,10 +253,6 @@ uint32_t DisplayDevice::getPageFlipCount() const {
     return mPageFlipCount;
 }
 
-nsecs_t DisplayDevice::getRefreshPeriod() const {
-    return mRefreshPeriod;
-}
-
 status_t DisplayDevice::compositionComplete() const {
     if (mFramebufferSurface == NULL) {
         return NO_ERROR;
diff --git a/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayDevice.h b/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayDevice.h
index 96590a001..d7aa6fb68 100644
--- a/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayDevice.h
+++ b/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayDevice.h
@@ -82,14 +82,11 @@ public:
 
     float       getDpiX() const;
     float       getDpiY() const;
-    float       getRefreshRate() const;
     float       getDensity() const;
     int         getWidth() const;
     int         getHeight() const;
     PixelFormat getFormat() const;
     uint32_t    getFlags() const;
-    nsecs_t     getRefreshPeriod() const;
-    status_t    getInfo(DisplayInfo* info) const;
 
     EGLSurface  getEGLSurface() const;
 
@@ -149,14 +146,12 @@ private:
     EGLContext      mContext;
     float           mDpiX;
     float           mDpiY;
-    float           mRefreshRate;
     float           mDensity;
     int             mDisplayWidth;
     int             mDisplayHeight;
     PixelFormat     mFormat;
     uint32_t        mFlags;
     mutable uint32_t mPageFlipCount;
-    nsecs_t         mRefreshPeriod;
 
     /*
      * Can only accessed from the main thread, these members
diff --git a/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayHardware/HWComposer.cpp b/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayHardware/HWComposer.cpp
index d3378058d..2a51fb66c 100644
--- a/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayHardware/HWComposer.cpp
+++ b/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayHardware/HWComposer.cpp
@@ -101,14 +101,12 @@ struct HWComposer::cb_context {
 
 HWComposer::HWComposer(
         const sp<SurfaceFlinger>& flinger,
-        EventHandler& handler,
-        nsecs_t refreshPeriod)
+        EventHandler& handler)
     : mFlinger(flinger),
       mModule(0), mHwc(0), mList(0), mCapacity(0),
       mNumOVLayers(0), mNumFBLayers(0),
       mCBContext(new cb_context),
-      mEventHandler(handler),
-      mRefreshPeriod(refreshPeriod),
+      mEventHandler(handler), mRefreshPeriod(0),
       mVSyncCount(0), mDebugForceFakeVSync(false)
 {
     char value[PROPERTY_VALUE_MAX];
@@ -137,6 +135,11 @@ HWComposer::HWComposer(
                 // always turn vsync off when we start
                 mHwc->methods->eventControl(mHwc, HWC_EVENT_VSYNC, 0);
                 needVSyncThread = false;
+
+                int period;
+                if (mHwc->query(mHwc, HWC_VSYNC_PERIOD, &period) == NO_ERROR) {
+                    mRefreshPeriod = nsecs_t(period);
+                }
             }
             if (mHwc->registerProcs) {
                 mCBContext->hwc = this;
@@ -148,6 +151,26 @@ HWComposer::HWComposer(
         }
     }
 
+    if (mRefreshPeriod == 0) {
+        // for compatibility, we attempt to get the refresh rate from
+        // the FB HAL if we couldn't get it from the HWC HAL.
+        hw_module_t const* module;
+        if (hw_get_module(GRALLOC_HARDWARE_MODULE_ID, &module) == 0) {
+            framebuffer_device_t* fbDev;
+            int err = framebuffer_open(module, &fbDev);
+            if (!err && fbDev) {
+                mRefreshPeriod = nsecs_t(1e9 / fbDev->fps);
+                framebuffer_close(fbDev);
+            }
+        }
+        ALOGW("getting VSYNC period from fb HAL: %lld", mRefreshPeriod);
+    }
+
+    if (mRefreshPeriod == 0) {
+        mRefreshPeriod = nsecs_t(1e9 / 60.0);
+        ALOGW("getting VSYNC period thin air: %lld", mRefreshPeriod);
+    }
+
     if (needVSyncThread) {
         // we don't have VSYNC support, we need to fake it
         mVSyncThread = new VSyncThread(*this);
@@ -189,6 +212,10 @@ void HWComposer::vsync(int dpy, int64_t timestamp) {
     mLastHwVSync = timestamp;
 }
 
+nsecs_t HWComposer::getRefreshPeriod() const {
+    return mRefreshPeriod;
+}
+
 nsecs_t HWComposer::getRefreshTimestamp() const {
     // this returns the last refresh timestamp.
     // if the last one is not available, we estimate it based on
diff --git a/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayHardware/HWComposer.h b/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayHardware/HWComposer.h
index 872ab98e5..b9c93371e 100644
--- a/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayHardware/HWComposer.h
+++ b/services/surfaceflinger/DisplayHardware/HWComposer.h
@@ -55,8 +55,7 @@ public:
         virtual ~EventHandler() {}
     };
 
-    HWComposer(const sp<SurfaceFlinger>& flinger,
-            EventHandler& handler, nsecs_t refreshPeriod);
+    HWComposer(const sp<SurfaceFlinger>& flinger, EventHandler& handler);
     ~HWComposer();
 
     status_t initCheck() const;
@@ -189,6 +188,7 @@ public:
 
     void eventControl(int event, int enabled);
 
+    nsecs_t getRefreshPeriod() const;
     nsecs_t getRefreshTimestamp() const;
 
     // this class is only used to fake the VSync event on systems that don't
diff --git a/services/surfaceflinger/Layer.cpp b/services/surfaceflinger/Layer.cpp
index 7da0c9bbf..f72000fde 100644
--- a/services/surfaceflinger/Layer.cpp
+++ b/services/surfaceflinger/Layer.cpp
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ void Layer::dumpStats(String8& result, char* buffer, size_t SIZE) const
     LayerBaseClient::dumpStats(result, buffer, SIZE);
     const size_t o = mFrameLatencyOffset;
     const DisplayDevice& hw(mFlinger->getDefaultDisplayDevice());
-    const nsecs_t period = hw.getRefreshPeriod();
+    const nsecs_t period = mFlinger->getHwComposer().getRefreshPeriod();
     result.appendFormat("%lld\n", period);
     for (size_t i=0 ; i<128 ; i++) {
         const size_t index = (o+i) % 128;
diff --git a/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp b/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
index 382e01346..3aba3dbb8 100644
--- a/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
+++ b/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.cpp
@@ -378,9 +378,7 @@ status_t SurfaceFlinger::readyToRun()
     mEventQueue.setEventThread(mEventThread);
 
     // initialize the H/W composer
-    mHwc = new HWComposer(this,
-            *static_cast<HWComposer::EventHandler *>(this),
-            hw.getRefreshPeriod());
+    mHwc = new HWComposer(this, *static_cast<HWComposer::EventHandler *>(this));
 
     // initialize our drawing state
     mDrawingState = mCurrentState;
@@ -453,11 +451,21 @@ bool SurfaceFlinger::authenticateSurfaceTexture(
 }
 
 status_t SurfaceFlinger::getDisplayInfo(DisplayID dpy, DisplayInfo* info) {
+    // TODO: this is here only for compatibility -- show go away eventually.
     if (uint32_t(dpy) >= 2) {
         return BAD_INDEX;
     }
     const DisplayDevice& hw(getDefaultDisplayDevice());
-    return hw.getInfo(info);
+    info->w = hw.getWidth();
+    info->h = hw.getHeight();
+    info->xdpi = hw.getDpiX();
+    info->ydpi = hw.getDpiY();
+    info->fps = float(1e9 / getHwComposer().getRefreshPeriod());
+    info->density = hw.getDensity();
+    info->orientation = hw.getOrientation();
+    // TODO: this needs to go away (currently needed only by webkit)
+    getPixelFormatInfo(hw.getFormat(), &info->pixelFormatInfo);
+    return NO_ERROR;
 }
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1818,6 +1826,7 @@ void SurfaceFlinger::dumpAllLocked(
     snprintf(buffer, SIZE, "SurfaceFlinger global state:\n");
     result.append(buffer);
 
+    HWComposer& hwc(getHwComposer());
     const DisplayDevice& hw(getDefaultDisplayDevice());
     const GLExtensions& extensions(GLExtensions::getInstance());
     snprintf(buffer, SIZE, "GLES: %s, %s, %s\n",
@@ -1849,7 +1858,7 @@ void SurfaceFlinger::dumpAllLocked(
             mLastSwapBufferTime/1000.0,
             mLastTransactionTime/1000.0,
             mTransactionFlags,
-            hw.getRefreshRate(),
+            1e9 / hwc.getRefreshPeriod(),
             hw.getDpiX(),
             hw.getDpiY(),
             hw.getDensity());
@@ -1871,7 +1880,6 @@ void SurfaceFlinger::dumpAllLocked(
     /*
      * Dump HWComposer state
      */
-    HWComposer& hwc(getHwComposer());
     snprintf(buffer, SIZE, "h/w composer state:\n");
     result.append(buffer);
     snprintf(buffer, SIZE, "  h/w composer %s and %s\n",
diff --git a/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.h b/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.h
index 6f224b62c..feeccf65f 100644
--- a/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.h
+++ b/services/surfaceflinger/SurfaceFlinger.h
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ private:
 
     HWComposer& getHwComposer() const { return *mHwc; }
 
-        /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------
      * Compositing
      */
     void invalidateHwcGeometry();