diff --git a/R/display.R b/R/display.R
index d8e42e2..9cf2571 100644
--- a/R/display.R
+++ b/R/display.R
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 #' @importFrom stats setNames
 namedlist <- function() setNames(list(), character(0))
 
-base_display <- function(data, metadata) {
-    warning("IR_display can only be used from the IPython R kernel and R magic.")
+base_display <- function(data, metadata = NULL) {
+    getOption('jupyter.base_display_func')(data, metadata)
 }
 
 #' Display data by mimetype, with optional alternative representations.
diff --git a/R/options.r b/R/options.r
index f1c89d9..e50c142 100644
--- a/R/options.r
+++ b/R/options.r
@@ -12,7 +12,11 @@ opt.defaults <- list(
         'application/pdf',
         'image/png',
         'image/jpeg',
-        'image/svg+xml')
+        'image/svg+xml'),
+    jupyter.base_display_func = function(data,  metadata = NULL){
+        warning('IRdisplay can only be used from the IPython R kernel and R magic.')
+    }
+    
 )
 
 .onLoad <- function(libname = NULL, pkgname = NULL) {