diff --git a/ippisite/docs/source/conf.py b/ippisite/docs/source/conf.py
index 9a9a190d5aebd51d430b3c427e2900842755ba4c..2a36bfceca8a59f6951aaaa54dda5e4e70c9656f 100644
--- a/ippisite/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/ippisite/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
 import os
 import sys
 
+import matplotlib
+# avoid using tkinter with matplotlib
+matplotlib.use('agg')
+
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('../..'))
 import django
 os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = 'ippisite.settings'