diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index aba6b76f8ef8e55c58c6bc528c8d58ac001f60e8..36b0a8d9cd5ae953f2cd01ec0915b2b100d3f7f1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ build/
 .builds
 *.egg-info/
 qt/python/mantidqt/utils/qt/plugins.py
+qt/python/mantidqt/resources.py
 qt/applications/workbench/workbench/app/resources.py
 
 # Visual C++ cache files
diff --git a/qt/CMakeLists.txt b/qt/CMakeLists.txt
index 82b42ecd9bc51ed36905e6e998ee0f6a6d408e27..74408b6efd8a8db2b0dc77c90dddf7e7aece2cfa 100644
--- a/qt/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/qt/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -34,6 +34,21 @@ function ( add_python_package pkg_name )
   )
 endfunction ()
 
+# Resource compiler
+if ( NOT PYRCC5_CMD )
+  # Newer versions of PyQt5 have a pyrcc_main python module, whereas older
+  # versions have a pyrcc5 executable. We prefer calling the python module.
+  execute_process ( COMMAND  ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -c "import PyQt5.pyrcc_main" RESULT_VARIABLE _status)
+  if ( _status EQUAL 0 )
+    set ( PYRCC5_CMD ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m PyQt5.pyrcc_main CACHE string "Command line to use to run the PyQt5 resource compiler" )
+  else ()
+    find_file ( PYRCC5_CMD "pyrcc5" )
+    if ( NOT PYRCC5_CMD )
+      message ( FATAL_ERROR "Unable to find PyQt5 resource compiler. Tried PyQt5.pyrcc_main & pyrcc5" )
+    endif()
+  endif ()
+endif()
+
 ###########################################################################
 # Qt-based targets
 ###########################################################################
diff --git a/qt/applications/workbench/CMakeLists.txt b/qt/applications/workbench/CMakeLists.txt
index 4ba7dd6785515c5213b41368b2c5aa1c556dafc5..a280d52fa9104cf8f76a0b71d258d772d33cd67d 100644
--- a/qt/applications/workbench/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/qt/applications/workbench/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,21 +1,6 @@
 # Create egg link to binary output directory
 add_python_package ( workbench EXECUTABLE )
 
-# Resource compiler
-if ( NOT PYRCC5_CMD )
-  # Newer versions of PyQt5 have a pyrcc_main python module, whereas older
-  # versions have a pyrcc5 executable. We prefer calling the python module.
-  execute_process ( COMMAND  ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -c "import PyQt5.pyrcc_main" RESULT_VARIABLE _status)
-  if ( _status EQUAL 0 )
-    set ( PYRCC5_CMD ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} -m PyQt5.pyrcc_main CACHE string "Command line to use to run the PyQt5 resource compiler" )
-  else ()
-    find_file ( PYRCC5_CMD "pyrcc5" )
-    if ( NOT PYRCC5_CMD )
-      message ( FATAL_ERROR "Unable to find PyQt5 resource compiler. Tried PyQt5.pyrcc_main & pyrcc5" )
-    endif()
-  endif ()
-endif()
-
 # Configure resources data in place for ease of development. The output
 # file is added to the toplevel gitignore
 set ( _qrc_file ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/resources.qrc )
diff --git a/qt/python/CMakeLists.txt b/qt/python/CMakeLists.txt
index 34cc0c20a0a8ddbd35fb3fd99d296665e489cbd7..9fa3a2f3bd2014dda0d86764feb96c99f9c42156 100644
--- a/qt/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/qt/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,6 +23,17 @@ if ( ENABLE_WORKBENCH )
   # Create egg link to binary output directory for mantidqt
   add_python_package ( mantidqt )
 
+  # Configure resources data in place for ease of development. The output
+  # file is added to the toplevel gitignore
+  set ( _qrc_file ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/resources.qrc )
+  set ( _output_res_py ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/mantidqt/resources.py )
+  add_custom_command ( OUTPUT ${_output_res_py}
+    COMMAND ${PYRCC5_CMD} -o ${_output_res_py} ${_qrc_file}
+    COMMENT "Generating mantidqt resources module"
+    DEPENDS ${_qrc_file}
+  )
+  add_custom_target ( mantidqt_resources ALL DEPENDS ${_output_res_py} )
+
   # Now add any compiled sip targets
   add_subdirectory ( mantidqt/widgets )
 
@@ -30,6 +41,7 @@ if ( ENABLE_WORKBENCH )
   add_dependencies ( mantidqt
     mantidqt_widgetscoreqt5
     mantidqt_widgetscoreqt4
+    mantidqt_resources
   )
 
   ##########################################################################
diff --git a/qt/python/mantidqt/widgets/algorithmselector/__init__.py b/qt/python/mantidqt/widgets/algorithmselector/__init__.py
index 0b3cd787166883d5b460114945f119fbb90121b8..a4d2797b4246715f9e77b5754a134cba1522ebb3 100644
--- a/qt/python/mantidqt/widgets/algorithmselector/__init__.py
+++ b/qt/python/mantidqt/widgets/algorithmselector/__init__.py
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@
 
 # flake8: noqa
 from .widget import AlgorithmSelectorWidget
+from mantidqt import resources
diff --git a/qt/python/resources.qrc b/qt/python/resources.qrc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a107213f5760f213af69031bf0208439c2384445
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qt/python/resources.qrc
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<!DOCTYPE RCC><RCC version="1.0">
+<qresource>
+    <file alias="MantidPlot_Icon_32offset.png">../../images/MantidPlot_Icon_32offset.png</file>
+    <file alias="data_replace.png">../../images/data_replace.png</file>
+    <file alias="fileclose.png">../../images/fileclose.png</file>
+    <file alias="history.png">../../images/history.png</file>
+    <file alias="replace.png">../../images/replace.png</file>
+    <file alias="invalid.png">../../images/invalid.png</file>
+</qresource>
+</RCC>
\ No newline at end of file