diff --git a/lib/fiddle/ffi_backend.rb b/lib/fiddle/ffi_backend.rb
index 0c7c3797..c8804629 100644
--- a/lib/fiddle/ffi_backend.rb
+++ b/lib/fiddle/ffi_backend.rb
@@ -475,8 +475,11 @@ class Handle
     RTLD_NOW = FFI::DynamicLibrary::RTLD_NOW
 
     def initialize(libname = nil, flags = RTLD_LAZY | RTLD_GLOBAL)
-      @lib = FFI::DynamicLibrary.open(libname, flags) rescue LoadError
-      raise DLError.new("Could not open #{libname}") unless @lib
+      begin
+        @lib = FFI::DynamicLibrary.open(libname, flags)
+      rescue
+        raise DLError, "Could not open #{libname}"
+      end
 
       @open = true
 
diff --git a/test/fiddle/test_handle.rb b/test/fiddle/test_handle.rb
index e0ad17a9..ad8c45a0 100644
--- a/test/fiddle/test_handle.rb
+++ b/test/fiddle/test_handle.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,15 @@ module Fiddle
   class TestHandle < TestCase
     include Fiddle
 
+    def test_library_unavailable
+      assert_raise(DLError) do
+        Fiddle::Handle.new("does-not-exist-library")
+      end
+      assert_raise(DLError) do
+        Fiddle::Handle.new("/does/not/exist/library.#{RbConfig::CONFIG['SOEXT']}")
+      end
+    end
+
     def test_to_i
       if ffi_backend?
         omit("Fiddle::Handle#to_i is unavailable with FFI backend")