diff --git a/lisp/org-compat.el b/lisp/org-compat.el
index 90380a880..f76b86ce4 100644
--- a/lisp/org-compat.el
+++ b/lisp/org-compat.el
@@ -422,6 +422,10 @@ TIME defaults to the current time."
 (unless (fboundp 'user-error)
   (defalias 'user-error 'error))
 
+;; `font-lock-ensure' is only available from 24.4.50 on
+(unless (fboundp 'font-lock-ensure)
+  (defalias 'font-lock-ensure 'font-lock-fontify-buffer))
+
 (defmacro org-no-popups (&rest body)
   "Suppress popup windows.
 Let-bind some variables to nil around BODY to achieve the desired