diff --git a/IPython/utils/_get_terminal_size.py b/IPython/utils/_get_terminal_size.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2c989e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/IPython/utils/_get_terminal_size.py
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+# vendored version of backports.get_terminal_size as nemesapece package are a
+# mess and break, especially on ubuntu. This file is under MIT Licence.
+# See https://pypi.python.org/pypi/backports.shutil_get_terminal_size
+#
+# commit: afc5714b1545a5a3aa44cfb5e078d39165bf76ab (Feb 20, 2016)
+# from
+# https://github.com/chrippa/backports.shutil_get_terminal_size
+#
+# The MIT License (MIT)
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2014 Christopher Rosell
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+# of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+# in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+# to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+# copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+# furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+# AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+# THE SOFTWARE.
+#
+"""This is a backport of shutil.get_terminal_size from Python 3.3.
+
+The original implementation is in C, but here we use the ctypes and
+fcntl modules to create a pure Python version of os.get_terminal_size.
+"""
+
+import os
+import struct
+import sys
+
+from collections import namedtuple
+
+__all__ = ["get_terminal_size"]
+
+
+terminal_size = namedtuple("terminal_size", "columns lines")
+
+try:
+    from ctypes import windll, create_string_buffer, WinError
+
+    _handle_ids = {
+        0: -10,
+        1: -11,
+        2: -12,
+    }
+
+    def _get_terminal_size(fd):
+        handle = windll.kernel32.GetStdHandle(_handle_ids[fd])
+        if handle == 0:
+            raise OSError('handle cannot be retrieved')
+        if handle == -1:
+            raise WinError()
+        csbi = create_string_buffer(22)
+        res = windll.kernel32.GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(handle, csbi)
+        if res:
+            res = struct.unpack("hhhhHhhhhhh", csbi.raw)
+            left, top, right, bottom = res[5:9]
+            columns = right - left + 1
+            lines = bottom - top + 1
+            return terminal_size(columns, lines)
+        else:
+            raise WinError()
+
+except ImportError:
+    import fcntl
+    import termios
+
+    def _get_terminal_size(fd):
+        try:
+            res = fcntl.ioctl(fd, termios.TIOCGWINSZ, b"\x00" * 4)
+        except IOError as e:
+            raise OSError(e)
+        lines, columns = struct.unpack("hh", res)
+
+        return terminal_size(columns, lines)
+
+
+def get_terminal_size(fallback=(80, 24)):
+    """Get the size of the terminal window.
+
+    For each of the two dimensions, the environment variable, COLUMNS
+    and LINES respectively, is checked. If the variable is defined and
+    the value is a positive integer, it is used.
+
+    When COLUMNS or LINES is not defined, which is the common case,
+    the terminal connected to sys.__stdout__ is queried
+    by invoking os.get_terminal_size.
+
+    If the terminal size cannot be successfully queried, either because
+    the system doesn't support querying, or because we are not
+    connected to a terminal, the value given in fallback parameter
+    is used. Fallback defaults to (80, 24) which is the default
+    size used by many terminal emulators.
+
+    The value returned is a named tuple of type os.terminal_size.
+    """
+    # Try the environment first
+    try:
+        columns = int(os.environ["COLUMNS"])
+    except (KeyError, ValueError):
+        columns = 0
+
+    try:
+        lines = int(os.environ["LINES"])
+    except (KeyError, ValueError):
+        lines = 0
+
+    # Only query if necessary
+    if columns <= 0 or lines <= 0:
+        try:
+            size = _get_terminal_size(sys.__stdout__.fileno())
+        except (NameError, OSError):
+            size = terminal_size(*fallback)
+
+        if columns <= 0:
+            columns = size.columns
+        if lines <= 0:
+            lines = size.lines
+
+    return terminal_size(columns, lines)
+
diff --git a/IPython/utils/terminal.py b/IPython/utils/terminal.py
index 3bdcee3..0f3a45d 100644
--- a/IPython/utils/terminal.py
+++ b/IPython/utils/terminal.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ Authors:
 * Alexander Belchenko (e-mail: bialix AT ukr.net)
 """
 
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
 # Copyright (c) IPython Development Team.
 # Distributed under the terms of the Modified BSD License.
 
@@ -19,7 +21,10 @@ try:
     from shutil import get_terminal_size as _get_terminal_size
 except ImportError:
     # use backport on Python 2
-    from backports.shutil_get_terminal_size import get_terminal_size as _get_terminal_size
+    try:
+        from backports.shutil_get_terminal_size import get_terminal_size as _get_terminal_size
+    except ImportError:
+        from ._get_terminal_size import _get_terminal_size
 
 from . import py3compat