matplotlib fails to output EPS figure with usetex = True

Question

I am trying to output (savefig) matplotlib figures as EPS; however, it seems there is a conflict when using the LaTeX rendering AND saving EPS figures. For example, the following code produces a good EPS figure:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

plt.figure()
plt.plot(np.random.rand(100))
plt.savefig('plot.eps')

whereas this code produces an EPS figure that can not be viewed; my document viewer (Ubuntu's Evince) continuously says "Loading..."

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

plt.rc('text', usetex = True)
plt.figure()
plt.plot(np.random.rand(100))
plt.savefig('plot.eps')

Is there a known issue when combining these two options? Is there any kind of work around (aside from saving as PDF or saving as PDF then converting to EPS)?

Answer 1

The only solution I could find was to update matplotlib from 1.2.1 to 1.3.1. Now it works without problems.