diff --git a/roles/general-use-gui/tasks/main.yml b/roles/general-use-gui/tasks/main.yml
index c08fed9..25ddfd4 100644
--- a/roles/general-use-gui/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/general-use-gui/tasks/main.yml
@@ -276,3 +276,10 @@
     with_items:
         - workrave
         - remmina
+
+# this needs a GUI, and cannot be installed with pip et al.
+# but is required by certain python libraries
+-   name: Install idle-python
+    apt: name={{ item }} state=latest
+    with_items:
+        - idle-python2.7