diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py b/Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py
index 5d639913aa..c0b66a3aa0 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py
@@ -744,7 +744,11 @@ class EditorWindow:
         return idleConf.GetExtensions(editor_only=True)
 
     def load_extension(self, name):
-        mod = __import__(name, globals(), locals(), [])
+        try:
+            mod = __import__(name, globals(), locals(), [])
+        except ImportError:
+            print "\nFailed to import extension: ", name
+            return None
         cls = getattr(mod, name)
         keydefs = idleConf.GetExtensionBindings(name)
         if hasattr(cls, "menudefs"):
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt b/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
index 248d3e8ef7..7d188f2fe3 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ What's New in IDLE 1.1.1?
 
 *Release date: XX-JAN-2005*
 
+- If an extension can't be loaded, print warning and skip it instead of
+  erroring out.
+
 - Improve error handling when .idlerc can't be created (warn and exit)
 
 - The GUI was hanging if the shell window was closed while a raw_input()