diff --git a/src/hardware/r_opengl/r_opengl.c b/src/hardware/r_opengl/r_opengl.c
index 3f77be1ec..7c9a37131 100644
--- a/src/hardware/r_opengl/r_opengl.c
+++ b/src/hardware/r_opengl/r_opengl.c
@@ -3262,13 +3262,26 @@ EXPORT void HWRAPI(DrawScreenFinalTexture)(int tex, int width, int height)
 
 EXPORT void HWRAPI(SetPaletteLookup)(UINT8 *lut)
 {
+	GLenum internalFormat;
+	if (gl_version[0] == '1' || gl_version[0] == '2')
+	{
+		// if the OpenGL version is below 3.0, then the GL_R8 format may not be available.
+		// so use GL_LUMINANCE8 instead to get a single component 8-bit format
+		// (it is possible to have access to shaders even in some OpenGL 1.x systems,
+		// so palette rendering can still possibly be achieved there)
+		internalFormat = GL_LUMINANCE8;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		internalFormat = GL_R8;
+	}
 	if (!paletteLookupTex)
 		pglGenTextures(1, &paletteLookupTex);
 	pglActiveTexture(GL_TEXTURE1);
 	pglBindTexture(GL_TEXTURE_3D, paletteLookupTex);
 	pglTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_3D, GL_TEXTURE_MIN_FILTER, GL_NEAREST);
 	pglTexParameteri(GL_TEXTURE_3D, GL_TEXTURE_MAG_FILTER, GL_NEAREST);
-	pglTexImage3D(GL_TEXTURE_3D, 0, GL_R8, HWR_PALETTE_LUT_SIZE, HWR_PALETTE_LUT_SIZE, HWR_PALETTE_LUT_SIZE,
+	pglTexImage3D(GL_TEXTURE_3D, 0, internalFormat, HWR_PALETTE_LUT_SIZE, HWR_PALETTE_LUT_SIZE, HWR_PALETTE_LUT_SIZE,
 		0, GL_RED, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, lut);
 	pglActiveTexture(GL_TEXTURE0);
 }