diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
index fe98dd3f59a8..81b35ebfbfd1 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
@@ -2209,7 +2209,8 @@ def show(self, warn=True):
         try:
             self.canvas.manager.show()
         except NonGuiException as exc:
-            _api.warn_external(str(exc))
+            if warn:
+                _api.warn_external(str(exc))
 
     def get_axes(self):
         """