diff --git a/2763.patch b/2763.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00262a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2763.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+From d8fa7bf9d41b7a3e7a548d09be52e957cd4a55de Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Oliver Beckstein <orbeckst@gmail.com>
+Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2020 17:31:16 -0700
+Subject: [PATCH] removed matplotlib.use('agg') from tests
+
+- fix #2191
+diff --git a/MDAnalysisTests-0.20.1/MDAnalysisTests/__init__.py b/MDAnalysisTests-0.20.1/MDAnalysisTests/__init__.py
+index e41c7c5808..7a7fef347f 100644
+--- a/MDAnalysisTests-0.20.1/MDAnalysisTests/__init__.py
++++ b/MDAnalysisTests-0.20.1/MDAnalysisTests/__init__.py
+@@ -118,14 +118,10 @@
+ os.environ['DUECREDIT_ENABLE'] = 'yes'
+ 
+ # Any tests that plot with matplotlib need to run with the simple agg backend
+-# because on Travis there is no DISPLAY set. This doesn't warn if we import
+-# files from the tests after loading matplotlib. This will remove unnecessary
+-# user warnings. 
+-try:
+-    import matplotlib
+-    matplotlib.use('agg', warn=False)
+-except ImportError:
+-    pass
++# because on Travis there is no DISPLAY set.
++#
++# Instead of using matplotlib.use() we set MPLBACKEND=agg in the CI environment.
++# See https://matplotlib.org/3.2.1/tutorials/introductory/usage.html#backends
+ 
+ from MDAnalysisTests.util import (
+     block_import,
+diff --git a/MDAnalysisTests-0.20.1/MDAnalysisTests/visualization/test_streamlines.py b/MDAnalysisTests-0.20.1/MDAnalysisTests/visualization/test_streamlines.py
+index 8e446a0e72..333d8fda49 100644
+--- a/MDAnalysisTests-0.20.1/MDAnalysisTests/visualization/test_streamlines.py
++++ b/MDAnalysisTests-0.20.1/MDAnalysisTests/visualization/test_streamlines.py
+@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@
+ from MDAnalysis.coordinates.XTC import XTCWriter
+ from MDAnalysisTests.datafiles import Martini_membrane_gro
+ import pytest
+-import matplotlib
+-matplotlib.use('agg')
+ import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+ import os
+ 
diff --git a/python-MDAnalysis.spec b/python-MDAnalysis.spec
index 000abe9..f815293 100644
--- a/python-MDAnalysis.spec
+++ b/python-MDAnalysis.spec
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 Name: python-%{pname}
 Version: 0.20.1
-Release: 3%{?dist}
+Release: 4%{?dist}
 Summary: Analyze and manipulate molecular dynamics trajectories
 License: GPLv2+ and BSD and MIT and CC-BY-ND
 # BSD:
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ Source2: https://github.com/%{pname}/mdanalysis/files/1935925/pypidoc.zip
 # force rebuild of cythonized intermediate sources
 Patch1: %{name}-cython.patch
 Patch2: %{name}-flags.patch
+# https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1853117
+Patch3: 2763.patch
 # 32-bit archs: https://github.com/MDAnalysis/mdanalysis/issues/2342
 # ppc64le, aarch64: https://github.com/MDAnalysis/mdanalysis/issues/2343
 ExcludeArch: i686 armv7hl s390x ppc64le aarch64
@@ -108,6 +110,7 @@ This package contains the documentation
 %setup -q -n %{pname}-%{version} -a 1
 %patch1 -p1 -b .cython
 %patch2 -p1 -b .flags
+%patch3 -p1
 # force rebuild of Egg Metadata
 rm -r %{pname}.egg-info
 rm -r %{pname}Tests-%{version}/%{pname}Tests.egg-info
@@ -182,6 +185,9 @@ PYTHONPATH=%{buildroot}%{python3_sitelib}:%{buildroot}%{python3_sitearch} \
 %doc doc/html/*
 
 %changelog
+* Thu Jul 02 2020 Christoph Junghans <junghans@votca.org> - 0.20.1-4
+- Fix build with matplotlib 3.3.0rc1 (bug #1853117)
+
 * Tue May 26 2020 Miro Hrončok <mhroncok@redhat.com> - 0.20.1-3
 - Rebuilt for Python 3.9