diff --git a/src/Spell.py b/src/Spell.py
index 6dd2a583f..b46848123 100644
--- a/src/Spell.py
+++ b/src/Spell.py
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ class Spell(object):
                     gtkspell_spell = gtkspell.Spell(self.textview)
                     self._active_spellcheck = spellcheck_code
                 except:
+                    import traceback
+                    print traceback.print_exc()
                     # attaching the spellchecker will fail if
                     # the language does not exist
                     # and presumably if there is no dictionary