diff --git a/pyqtgraph/Qt.py b/pyqtgraph/Qt.py
index 6ae20cbb..eb5c6f32 100644
--- a/pyqtgraph/Qt.py
+++ b/pyqtgraph/Qt.py
@@ -450,3 +450,9 @@ def mkQApp(name=None):
     if name is not None:
         QAPP.setApplicationName(name)
     return QAPP
+
+
+# exec() is used within _loadUiType, so we define as exec_() here and rename in pg namespace
+def exec_():
+    app = mkQApp()
+    return app.exec() if hasattr(app, 'exec') else app.exec_()
diff --git a/pyqtgraph/__init__.py b/pyqtgraph/__init__.py
index 916e937e..3edd7a20 100644
--- a/pyqtgraph/__init__.py
+++ b/pyqtgraph/__init__.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ __version__ = '0.12.1'
 ## 'Qt' is a local module; it is intended mainly to cover up the differences
 ## between PyQt4 and PySide.
 from .Qt import QtGui, mkQApp
+from .Qt import exec_ as exec
 
 ## not really safe--If we accidentally create another QApplication, the process hangs (and it is very difficult to trace the cause)
 #if QtGui.QApplication.instance() is None: