diff --git a/scapy/arch/__init__.py b/scapy/arch/__init__.py
index 2dc1375005a73c296fe568dfbb7266358102944c..058f0f17913affa3cc4ecefdda9a2b72477706c0 100644
--- a/scapy/arch/__init__.py
+++ b/scapy/arch/__init__.py
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ try:
     else:
         MATPLOTLIB_INLINED = 0
     MATPLOTLIB_DEFAULT_PLOT_KARGS = {"marker": "+"}
-except ImportError:
+# RuntimeError to catch gtk "Cannot open display" error
+except (ImportError, RuntimeError) as e:
     plt = None
     MATPLOTLIB = 0
     MATPLOTLIB_INLINED = 0