diff --git a/fsl/__init__.py b/fsl/__init__.py
index 7dd20a9306aa28a3f6ecd68e8260301cc7d664ec..e5a75ef1999b2fd8f74774504cd39e3c85b19178 100644
--- a/fsl/__init__.py
+++ b/fsl/__init__.py
@@ -51,13 +51,18 @@ also provide the following module level attributes:
 """
 
 import logging
-log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+import warnings
 
 import os
 import sys
-import logging
 import argparse
 
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# make matplotlib quiet
+warnings.filterwarnings('ignore', module='matplotlib')
+
+
 # There's a bug in OpenGL.GL.shaders (which has been fixed in
 # the latest version) - it calls logging.basicConfig(), and
 # thus screws up our own logging. We overcome this by configuring