diff --git a/muutils/nbutils/configure_notebook.py b/muutils/nbutils/configure_notebook.py
index a67a2805..0bc0bb29 100644
--- a/muutils/nbutils/configure_notebook.py
+++ b/muutils/nbutils/configure_notebook.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 # handling figures
 PlottingMode = typing.Literal["ignore", "inline", "widget", "save"]
 PLOT_MODE: PlottingMode = "inline"
+CONVERSION_PLOTMODE_OVERRIDE: PlottingMode | None = None
 FIG_COUNTER: int = 0
 FIG_OUTPUT_FMT: str | None = None
 FIG_NUMBERED_FNAME: str = "figure-{num}"
@@ -69,10 +70,16 @@ def setup_plots(
     close_after_plotshow: bool = False,
 ) -> None:
     """Set up plot saving/rendering options"""
-    global PLOT_MODE, FIG_COUNTER, FIG_OUTPUT_FMT, FIG_NUMBERED_FNAME, FIG_CONFIG, FIG_BASEPATH, CLOSE_AFTER_PLOTSHOW
+    global PLOT_MODE, CONVERSION_PLOTMODE_OVERRIDE, FIG_COUNTER, FIG_OUTPUT_FMT, FIG_NUMBERED_FNAME, FIG_CONFIG, FIG_BASEPATH, CLOSE_AFTER_PLOTSHOW
+
+    # set plot mode, handling override
+    if CONVERSION_PLOTMODE_OVERRIDE is not None:
+        # override if set
+        PLOT_MODE = CONVERSION_PLOTMODE_OVERRIDE
+    else:
+        # otherwise use the given plot mode
+        PLOT_MODE = plot_mode
 
-    # set plot mode
-    PLOT_MODE = plot_mode
     FIG_COUNTER = 0
     CLOSE_AFTER_PLOTSHOW = close_after_plotshow
 
@@ -81,7 +88,9 @@ def setup_plots(
             ipython = get_ipython()
             ipython.magic("matplotlib inline")
         else:
-            raise RuntimeError("Cannot use inline plotting outside of Jupyter")
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"Cannot use inline plotting outside of Jupyter\n{PLOT_MODE = }\t{CONVERSION_PLOTMODE_OVERRIDE = }"
+            )
         return
     elif PLOT_MODE == "widget":
         if IN_JUPYTER:
diff --git a/muutils/nbutils/convert_ipynb_to_script.py b/muutils/nbutils/convert_ipynb_to_script.py
index 5abbde53..dedfd181 100644
--- a/muutils/nbutils/convert_ipynb_to_script.py
+++ b/muutils/nbutils/convert_ipynb_to_script.py
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ def new_render(
 
 render = new_render
 # ------------------------------------------------------------
+"""
+    ],
+    "muutils": [
+        """import muutils.nbutils.configure_notebook as nb_conf
+nb_conf.CONVERSION_PLOTMODE_OVERRIDE = "ignore"
 """
     ],
 }
@@ -53,6 +58,10 @@ def disable_plots_in_script(script_lines: list[str]) -> list[str]:
     """Disable plots in a script by adding cursed things after the import statements"""
     result_str_TEMP: str = "\n\n".join(script_lines)
     script_lines_new: list[str] = script_lines
+
+    if "muutils" in result_str_TEMP:
+        script_lines_new = DISABLE_PLOTS["muutils"] + script_lines_new
+
     if "matplotlib" in result_str_TEMP:
         assert (
             "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt" in result_str_TEMP
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b4584326..41b12953 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "muutils"
-version = "0.5.4"
+version = "0.5.5"
 description = "A collection of miscellaneous python utilities"
 license = "GPL-3.0-only"
 authors = ["mivanit <mivanits@umich.edu>"]