diff --git a/src/dorkbox/systemTray/SystemTray.java b/src/dorkbox/systemTray/SystemTray.java
index 155f8f0..4e33e51 100644
--- a/src/dorkbox/systemTray/SystemTray.java
+++ b/src/dorkbox/systemTray/SystemTray.java
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import dorkbox.util.process.ShellProcessBuilder;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import java.awt.GraphicsEnvironment;
+import java.awt.HeadlessException;
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.File;
@@ -79,6 +81,11 @@ class SystemTray {
             return;
         }
 
+        // no tray in a headless environment
+        if (GraphicsEnvironment.isHeadless()) {
+            throw new HeadlessException();
+        }
+
         Class<? extends SystemTray> trayType = null;
 
         boolean isJavaFxLoaded = false;