diff --git a/include/render/vulkan.h b/include/render/vulkan.h
index e87c564c..a2591b3b 100644
--- a/include/render/vulkan.h
+++ b/include/render/vulkan.h
@@ -25,13 +25,9 @@ struct wlr_vk_instance {
 };
 
 // Creates and initializes a vulkan instance.
-// Will try to enable the given extensions but not fail if they are not
-// available which can later be checked by the caller.
 // The debug parameter determines if validation layers are enabled and a
 // debug messenger created.
-// `compositor_name` and `compositor_version` are passed to the vulkan driver.
-struct wlr_vk_instance *vulkan_instance_create(size_t ext_count,
-	const char **exts, bool debug);
+struct wlr_vk_instance *vulkan_instance_create(bool debug);
 void vulkan_instance_destroy(struct wlr_vk_instance *ini);
 
 // Logical vulkan device state.
diff --git a/render/vulkan/renderer.c b/render/vulkan/renderer.c
index 304f5e41..3a0cfde4 100644
--- a/render/vulkan/renderer.c
+++ b/render/vulkan/renderer.c
@@ -1713,7 +1713,7 @@ struct wlr_renderer *wlr_vk_renderer_create_with_drm_fd(int drm_fd) {
 	// NOTE: we could add functionality to allow the compositor passing its
 	// name and version to this function. Just use dummies until then,
 	// shouldn't be relevant to the driver anyways
-	struct wlr_vk_instance *ini = vulkan_instance_create(0, NULL, default_debug);
+	struct wlr_vk_instance *ini = vulkan_instance_create(default_debug);
 	if (!ini) {
 		wlr_log(WLR_ERROR, "creating vulkan instance for renderer failed");
 		return NULL;
diff --git a/render/vulkan/vulkan.c b/render/vulkan/vulkan.c
index 7f8eb580..034c160c 100644
--- a/render/vulkan/vulkan.c
+++ b/render/vulkan/vulkan.c
@@ -84,8 +84,7 @@ static VkBool32 debug_callback(VkDebugUtilsMessageSeverityFlagBitsEXT severity,
 
 
 // instance
-struct wlr_vk_instance *vulkan_instance_create(size_t ext_count,
-		const char **exts, bool debug) {
+struct wlr_vk_instance *vulkan_instance_create(bool debug) {
 	// we require vulkan 1.1
 	PFN_vkEnumerateInstanceVersion pfEnumInstanceVersion =
 		(PFN_vkEnumerateInstanceVersion)
@@ -132,22 +131,7 @@ struct wlr_vk_instance *vulkan_instance_create(size_t ext_count,
 	}
 
 	size_t extensions_len = 0;
-	const char **extensions = calloc(1 + ext_count, sizeof(*extensions));
-	if (!extensions) {
-		wlr_log_errno(WLR_ERROR, "allocation failed");
-		goto error;
-	}
-
-	// find extensions
-	for (unsigned i = 0; i < ext_count; ++i) {
-		if (find_extensions(avail_ext_props, avail_extc, &exts[i], 1)) {
-			wlr_log(WLR_DEBUG, "vulkan instance extension %s not found",
-				exts[i]);
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		extensions[extensions_len++] = exts[i];
-	}
+	const char *extensions[1] = {0};
 
 	bool debug_utils_found = false;
 	if (debug) {
@@ -158,6 +142,8 @@ struct wlr_vk_instance *vulkan_instance_create(size_t ext_count,
 		}
 	}
 
+	assert(extensions_len <= sizeof(extensions) / sizeof(extensions[0]));
+
 	VkApplicationInfo application_info = {0};
 	application_info.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_APPLICATION_INFO;
 	application_info.pEngineName = "wlroots";
@@ -210,8 +196,6 @@ struct wlr_vk_instance *vulkan_instance_create(size_t ext_count,
 		goto error;
 	}
 
-	free(extensions);
-
 	// debug callback
 	if (debug_utils_found) {
 		ini->api.createDebugUtilsMessengerEXT =