diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/Internal/UnmanagedLibrary.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/Internal/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
index 7185d68efe9..1786fc2e3f6 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/Internal/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/Internal/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
@@ -51,11 +51,12 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Internal
 
             Logger.Debug("Attempting to load native library \"{0}\"", this.libraryPath);
 
-            this.handle = PlatformSpecificLoadLibrary(this.libraryPath);
+            this.handle = PlatformSpecificLoadLibrary(this.libraryPath, out string loadLibraryErrorDetail);
 
             if (this.handle == IntPtr.Zero)
             {
-                throw new IOException(string.Format("Error loading native library \"{0}\"", this.libraryPath));
+                throw new IOException(string.Format("Error loading native library \"{0}\". {1}",
+                                                    this.libraryPath, loadLibraryErrorDetail));
             }
         }
 
@@ -129,31 +130,44 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Internal
         /// <summary>
         /// Loads library in a platform specific way.
         /// </summary>
-        private static IntPtr PlatformSpecificLoadLibrary(string libraryPath)
+        private static IntPtr PlatformSpecificLoadLibrary(string libraryPath, out string errorMsg)
         {
             if (PlatformApis.IsWindows)
             {
+                // TODO(jtattermusch): populate the error on Windows
+                errorMsg = null;
                 return Windows.LoadLibrary(libraryPath);
             }
             if (PlatformApis.IsLinux)
             {
                 if (PlatformApis.IsMono)
                 {
-                    return Mono.dlopen(libraryPath, RTLD_GLOBAL + RTLD_LAZY);
+                    return LoadLibraryPosix(Mono.dlopen, Mono.dlerror, libraryPath, out errorMsg);
                 }
                 if (PlatformApis.IsNetCore)
                 {
-                    return CoreCLR.dlopen(libraryPath, RTLD_GLOBAL + RTLD_LAZY);
+                    return LoadLibraryPosix(CoreCLR.dlopen, CoreCLR.dlerror, libraryPath, out errorMsg);
                 }
-                return Linux.dlopen(libraryPath, RTLD_GLOBAL + RTLD_LAZY);
+                return LoadLibraryPosix(Linux.dlopen, Linux.dlerror, libraryPath, out errorMsg);
             }
             if (PlatformApis.IsMacOSX)
             {
-                return MacOSX.dlopen(libraryPath, RTLD_GLOBAL + RTLD_LAZY);
+                return LoadLibraryPosix(MacOSX.dlopen, MacOSX.dlerror, libraryPath, out errorMsg);
             }
             throw new InvalidOperationException("Unsupported platform.");
         }
 
+        private static IntPtr LoadLibraryPosix(Func<string, int, IntPtr> dlopenFunc, Func<IntPtr> dlerrorFunc, string libraryPath, out string errorMsg)
+        {
+            errorMsg = null;
+            IntPtr ret = dlopenFunc(libraryPath, RTLD_GLOBAL + RTLD_LAZY);
+            if (ret == IntPtr.Zero)
+            {
+                errorMsg = Marshal.PtrToStringAnsi(dlerrorFunc());
+            }
+            return ret;
+        }
+
         private static string FirstValidLibraryPath(string[] libraryPathAlternatives)
         {
             GrpcPreconditions.CheckArgument(libraryPathAlternatives.Length > 0, "libraryPathAlternatives cannot be empty.");
@@ -183,6 +197,9 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Internal
             [DllImport("libdl.so")]
             internal static extern IntPtr dlopen(string filename, int flags);
 
+            [DllImport("libdl.so")]
+            internal static extern IntPtr dlerror();
+
             [DllImport("libdl.so")]
             internal static extern IntPtr dlsym(IntPtr handle, string symbol);
         }
@@ -192,6 +209,9 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Internal
             [DllImport("libSystem.dylib")]
             internal static extern IntPtr dlopen(string filename, int flags);
 
+            [DllImport("libSystem.dylib")]
+            internal static extern IntPtr dlerror();
+
             [DllImport("libSystem.dylib")]
             internal static extern IntPtr dlsym(IntPtr handle, string symbol);
         }
@@ -208,6 +228,9 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Internal
             [DllImport("__Internal")]
             internal static extern IntPtr dlopen(string filename, int flags);
 
+            [DllImport("__Internal")]
+            internal static extern IntPtr dlerror();
+
             [DllImport("__Internal")]
             internal static extern IntPtr dlsym(IntPtr handle, string symbol);
         }
@@ -222,6 +245,9 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Internal
             [DllImport("libcoreclr.so")]
             internal static extern IntPtr dlopen(string filename, int flags);
 
+            [DllImport("libcoreclr.so")]
+            internal static extern IntPtr dlerror();
+
             [DllImport("libcoreclr.so")]
             internal static extern IntPtr dlsym(IntPtr handle, string symbol);
         }