diff --git a/base/libdl.jl b/base/libdl.jl
index 38dd86ca55f62..bd909bb7b90eb 100644
--- a/base/libdl.jl
+++ b/base/libdl.jl
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ dlopen(s::Symbol, flags::Integer = default_rtld_flags; kwargs...) =
 
 function dlopen(s::AbstractString, flags::Integer = default_rtld_flags; throw_error::Bool = true)
     ret = ccall(:jl_load_dynamic_library, Ptr{Cvoid}, (Cstring,UInt32,Cint), s, flags, Cint(throw_error))
-    if ret == C_NULL
+    if !throw_error && ret == C_NULL
         return nothing
     end
     return ret