diff --git a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_glsl_to_nir.cpp b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_glsl_to_nir.cpp
index 17f0632093e..9db94540be6 100644
--- a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_glsl_to_nir.cpp
+++ b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_glsl_to_nir.cpp
@@ -401,6 +401,12 @@ st_nir_preprocess(struct st_context *st, struct gl_program *prog,
    NIR_PASS_V(nir, nir_split_var_copies);
    NIR_PASS_V(nir, nir_lower_var_copies);
 
+   enum pipe_shader_type pstage = pipe_shader_type_from_mesa(stage);
+   if (st->screen->get_shader_param(st->screen, pstage, PIPE_SHADER_CAP_FP16) &&
+         st->screen->get_shader_param(st->screen, pstage, PIPE_SHADER_CAP_INT16)) {
+      NIR_PASS_V(nir, nir_lower_mediump_vars, nir_var_function_temp | nir_var_shader_temp | nir_var_mem_shared);
+   }
+
    if (options->lower_to_scalar) {
      NIR_PASS_V(nir, nir_lower_alu_to_scalar,
                 options->lower_to_scalar_filter, NULL);