diff --git a/base/loading.jl b/base/loading.jl
index 2e9bd1432e9a0..e7ff3abc13fb0 100644
--- a/base/loading.jl
+++ b/base/loading.jl
@@ -2499,7 +2499,7 @@ function require_stdlib(uuidkey::PkgId, ext::Union{Nothing, String}=nothing)
         run_package_callbacks(uuidkey)
     else
         # if the user deleted their bundled depot, next try to load it completely normally
-        newm = _require(uuidkey)
+        newm = _require_prelocked(uuidkey)
     end
     return newm
     end