diff --git a/ext/widget_renderer/lib/widget_renderer.rb b/ext/widget_renderer/lib/widget_renderer.rb
index c6cd72a44..3d27310a7 100644
--- a/ext/widget_renderer/lib/widget_renderer.rb
+++ b/ext/widget_renderer/lib/widget_renderer.rb
@@ -112,4 +112,16 @@
 
 puts "WidgetRenderer: Initializing Rutie with path: #{path}"
 
-Rutie.new(:widget_renderer).init 'Init_widget_renderer', path
+# Only initialize Rutie if we found the native library
+if found_path
+  begin
+    Rutie.new(:widget_renderer).init 'Init_widget_renderer', path
+    puts "WidgetRenderer: Rust extension loaded successfully"
+  rescue Fiddle::DLError => e
+    puts "WidgetRenderer: Failed to load native library: #{e.message}"
+    puts "WidgetRenderer: Rust extension will not be available, falling back to ERB"
+  end
+else
+  puts "WidgetRenderer: Native library not found, Rust extension will not be available"
+  puts "WidgetRenderer: Form rendering will use ERB fallback"
+end