diff --git a/bin/pylint-gui b/bin/pylint-gui
index 847ef3a36..025378fef 100755
--- a/bin/pylint-gui
+++ b/bin/pylint-gui
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 import sys
-from pylint import gui 
-gui.Run(sys.argv[1:])
+try:
+    from pylint import gui 
+    gui.Run(sys.argv[1:])
+except ImportError:
+    sys.exit('tkinter is not available')