diff --git a/Stylet/Execute.cs b/Stylet/Execute.cs
index 75fb0f4..f5cfd1e 100644
--- a/Stylet/Execute.cs
+++ b/Stylet/Execute.cs
@@ -1,15 +1,19 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.ComponentModel;
+using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using System.Windows;
 
 namespace Stylet
 {
     public static class Execute
     {
         public static SynchronizationContext SynchronizationContext;
+        private static bool? inDesignMode;
 
         public static void OnUIThread(Action action)
         {
@@ -46,5 +50,22 @@ namespace Stylet
                 return Task.FromResult(false);
             }
         }
+
+        public static bool InDesignMode
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                if (inDesignMode == null)
+                {
+                    var prop = DesignerProperties.IsInDesignModeProperty;
+                    inDesignMode = (bool)DependencyPropertyDescriptor.FromProperty(prop, typeof(FrameworkElement)).Metadata.DefaultValue;
+
+                    if (inDesignMode.GetValueOrDefault(false) && Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName.StartsWith("devenv", StringComparison.Ordinal))
+                        inDesignMode = true;
+                }
+
+                return inDesignMode.GetValueOrDefault(false);
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/Stylet/View.cs b/Stylet/View.cs
index d96cdfb..1a3f163 100644
--- a/Stylet/View.cs
+++ b/Stylet/View.cs
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ namespace Stylet
 
         static View()
         {
-            viewManager = IoC.Get<IViewManager>();
+            // Don't complain that IoC is not initialized if we're in design mode
+            if (!Execute.InDesignMode)
+                viewManager = IoC.Get<IViewManager>();
         }
 
         public static object GetActionTarget(DependencyObject obj)