diff --git a/Lib/ctypes/__init__.py b/Lib/ctypes/__init__.py
index 4afa4ebd42..9f6e7fe3b1 100644
--- a/Lib/ctypes/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/ctypes/__init__.py
@@ -441,7 +441,10 @@ def __init__(self, dlltype):
     def __getattr__(self, name):
         if name[0] == '_':
             raise AttributeError(name)
-        dll = self._dlltype(name)
+        try:
+            dll = self._dlltype(name)
+        except OSError:
+            raise AttributeError(name)
         setattr(self, name, dll)
         return dll