diff --git a/dmydln.c b/dmydln.c
index 4b73adc763..84e8a2b381 100644
--- a/dmydln.c
+++ b/dmydln.c
@@ -21,12 +21,11 @@ dln_symbol(void *handle, const char *symbol)
     UNREACHABLE_RETURN(NULL);
 }
 
-NORETURN(void *dln_open(const char *library, char *error, size_t size));
 void*
 dln_open(const char *library, char *error, size_t size)
 {
-    rb_loaderror("this executable file can't load extension libraries");
-
-    UNREACHABLE_RETURN(NULL);
+    static const char *error_str = "this executable file can't load extension libraries";
+    strlcpy(error, error_str, size);
+    return NULL;
 }