diff --git a/examples/fft/spatial_filter.py b/examples/fft/spatial_filter.py
index a8de970b0e645f2c75b847b1085e3d138745a962..0fe0197ddd005f3375ceb0e32d1fd3815dbb2c1c 100644
--- a/examples/fft/spatial_filter.py
+++ b/examples/fft/spatial_filter.py
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ from __future__ import division
 from __future__ import print_function
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-import matplotlib
-BACKEND = 'Qt4Agg'
-matplotlib.use(BACKEND)
 import pylab as pl
 
 from pykat.optics.gaussian_beams import HG_beam, beam_param