diff --git a/bin/meshviewer b/bin/meshviewer
index 968fba3..725a636 100644
--- a/bin/meshviewer
+++ b/bin/meshviewer
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ from psbody.mesh.meshviewer import (
     MESH_VIEWER_DEFAULT_HEIGHT,
     ZMQ_HOST,
     MeshViewerLocal,
-    MeshViewerRemote)
+    MeshViewerRemote,
+    _test_for_opengl)
 
 
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
@@ -374,6 +375,8 @@ def take_snapshot(client, args):
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    args = parser_root.parse_args()
-    dispatch_command(args)
+    if _test_for_opengl():
+        args = parser_root.parse_args()
+        dispatch_command(args)
+
     sys.exit(0)
diff --git a/mesh/meshviewer.py b/mesh/meshviewer.py
index e457759..b7d774d 100755
--- a/mesh/meshviewer.py
+++ b/mesh/meshviewer.py
@@ -95,14 +95,15 @@ def _run_self(args, stdin=None, stdout=None, stderr=None):
 
 
 def _test_for_opengl():
+    print("Checking OpenGL...")
     try:
-        # from OpenGL.GLUT import glutInit
         GLUT.glutInit()
     except Exception as e:
+        print("OpenGL not available")
         print(e, file=sys.stderr)
-        print('failure')
-    else:
-        print('success')
+        return False
+    print("Success!")
+    return True
 
 
 test_for_opengl_cached = None