diff --git src/video/cocoa/SDL_cocoawindow.m src/video/cocoa/SDL_cocoawindow.m
index a8e95cc..b9d9790 100644
--- src/video/cocoa/SDL_cocoawindow.m
+++ src/video/cocoa/SDL_cocoawindow.m
@@ -1172,12 +1172,15 @@ SetWindowStyle(SDL_Window * window, NSUInteger style)
 
 -(void) updateLayer
 {
+/* this is only called on 10.8+, so restricting the build to the 10.8+ SDK is OK */
+#if MAC_OS_X_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED >= 1080
     /* Force the graphics context to clear to black so we don't get a flash of
        white until the app is ready to draw. In practice on modern macOS, this
        only gets called for window creation and other extraordinary events. */
     self.layer.backgroundColor = NSColor.blackColor.CGColor;
     ScheduleContextUpdates((SDL_WindowData *) _sdlWindow->driverdata);
     SDL_SendWindowEvent(_sdlWindow, SDL_WINDOWEVENT_EXPOSED, 0, 0);
+#endif /* MAC_OS_X_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED >= 1080 */
 }
 
 - (void)rightMouseDown:(NSEvent *)theEvent