diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 92b7fb7ab3..c7421bd0bb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1135,7 +1135,8 @@ if(WIN32)
 	list(APPEND GlslangLibs spirv-cross-hlsl)
 endif()
 
-if(APPLE)
+# The Metal backend. Not in the libretro cores, which get their graphics context from the frontend.
+if(APPLE AND NOT LIBRETRO)
 	list(APPEND GlslangLibs spirv-cross-msl)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/Common/CMakeLists.txt b/Common/CMakeLists.txt
index bacc0e4ddc..36880b070a 100644
--- a/Common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ if(NOT NO_OPENGL)
 	)
 endif()
 
-if(APPLE)
+if(APPLE AND NOT LIBRETRO)
 	set(CommonMetal
 		GPU/Metal/MetalGraphicsContext.h
 		GPU/Metal/MetalGraphicsContext.mm
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ if(TARGET Ext::GLEW)
 	target_link_libraries(Common Ext::GLEW)
 endif()
 
-if(APPLE)
+if(APPLE AND NOT LIBRETRO)
 	target_link_libraries(Common "-framework Metal" "-framework QuartzCore")
 endif()
 
diff --git a/Core/Config.cpp b/Core/Config.cpp
index 04955b36c0..7edd3af46f 100644
--- a/Core/Config.cpp
+++ b/Core/Config.cpp
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ bool Config::IsBackendEnabled(GPUBackend backend) {
 		return false;
 #endif
 
-#if !PPSSPP_PLATFORM(MAC) && !PPSSPP_PLATFORM(IOS)
+#if !PPSSPP_API(METAL)
 	if (backend == GPUBackend::METAL)
 		return false;
 #endif
diff --git a/GPU/CMakeLists.txt b/GPU/CMakeLists.txt
index 9df9e1ea89..111b4f2503 100644
--- a/GPU/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/GPU/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ endif()
 if(WIN32)
 	list(APPEND GPU_IMPLS ${GPU_D3D11})
 endif()
-if(APPLE)
+if(APPLE AND NOT LIBRETRO)
 	set(GPU_METAL
 		Metal/DrawEngineMetal.h
 		Metal/DrawEngineMetal.mm
diff --git a/GPU/GPU.cpp b/GPU/GPU.cpp
index 4e6d4e9dea..ddd41211a9 100644
--- a/GPU/GPU.cpp
+++ b/GPU/GPU.cpp
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 #include "GPU/D3D11/GPU_D3D11.h"
 #endif
 
-#if PPSSPP_PLATFORM(MAC) || PPSSPP_PLATFORM(IOS)
+#if PPSSPP_API(METAL)
 #include "GPU/Metal/GPU_Metal.h"
 #endif
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ static GPUCommon *CreateGPUCore(GPUCore gpuCore, GraphicsContext *ctx, Draw::Dra
 		return new GPU_Vulkan(ctx, draw);
 #endif
 	case GPUCORE_METAL:
-#if PPSSPP_PLATFORM(MAC) || PPSSPP_PLATFORM(IOS)
+#if PPSSPP_API(METAL)
 		return new GPU_Metal(ctx, draw);
 #else
 		return nullptr;
diff --git a/headless/Headless.cpp b/headless/Headless.cpp
index e3e515f4f3..e5588c146f 100644
--- a/headless/Headless.cpp
+++ b/headless/Headless.cpp
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 #include "Common/StringUtils.h"
 #include "Common/Thread/ThreadManager.h"
 #include "Common/GPU/Vulkan/VulkanGraphicsContext.h"
-#if PPSSPP_PLATFORM(MAC) || PPSSPP_PLATFORM(IOS)
+#if PPSSPP_API(METAL)
 #include "Common/GPU/Metal/MetalGraphicsContext.h"
 #endif
 #include "Core/CmdLine.h"
@@ -1112,7 +1112,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) {
 			vulkanContext->SetOffscreen(480, 272);
 			graphicsContext = vulkanContext;
 			deviceSetting = &g_Config.sVulkanDevice;
-#if PPSSPP_PLATFORM(MAC) || PPSSPP_PLATFORM(IOS)
+#if PPSSPP_API(METAL)
 		} else if (gpuCore == GPUCORE_METAL) {
 			MetalGraphicsContext *metalContext = new MetalGraphicsContext();
 			metalContext->SetOffscreen(480, 272);
diff --git a/ppsspp_config.h b/ppsspp_config.h
index 4ce8d5eeb4..61b733c160 100644
--- a/ppsspp_config.h
+++ b/ppsspp_config.h
@@ -143,3 +143,8 @@
 #if PPSSPP_PLATFORM(WINDOWS)
 #define PPSSPP_API_D3D11 1
 #endif
+
+// Not in the libretro cores, which get their graphics context from the frontend.
+#if (PPSSPP_PLATFORM(MAC) || PPSSPP_PLATFORM(IOS)) && !defined(__LIBRETRO__)
+#define PPSSPP_API_METAL 1
+#endif