[...]


    Eli> My problem with this is twofold:

    Eli>   . I don't like to have code in Emacs which "works around" our own code
    Eli> . viper-has-face-support-p is used for more than just the mode line

Mmm. Then perhaps the patch should be changed to integrate better with
the rest.

    Eli> So I'd prefer a different solution.  And in this case, it sounds like a possible solution
    Eli> already exists, see above.

See above.

Best Regards