diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 044fde7..47196cf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -32,3 +32,13 @@ mv libstdc++.so.6* exclude/
 ```
 
 after installing, run `matlab.sh` to launch matlab
+
+## ACHTUNG! Gnome users et al.
+Even if the installation works, launching the program may not. if you see an error similar to this:
+```
+dbus[27716]: D-Bus library appears to be incorrectly set up: see the manual page for dbus-uuidgen to correct this issue. (Failed to open "/mathworks/devel/bat/B3p1/build/3p/install/15160996/glnxa64/dbus/var/lib/dbus/machine-id": No such file or directory; Failed to open "/etc/machine-id": No such file or directory)
+```
+you likely need to run the following command as root:
+```bash
+dbus-uuidgen --ensure=/etc/machine-id
+```