diff --git a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/Internal/UnmanagedLibrary.cs b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/Internal/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
index 577b11a44d6..c275559dfd1 100644
--- a/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/Internal/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
+++ b/src/csharp/Grpc.Core/Internal/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
@@ -134,9 +134,19 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Internal
         {
             if (PlatformApis.IsWindows)
             {
-                // TODO(jtattermusch): populate the error on Windows
                 errorMsg = null;
-                return Windows.LoadLibrary(libraryPath);
+                var handle = Windows.LoadLibrary(libraryPath);
+                if (handle == IntPtr.Zero)
+                {
+                    int win32Error = Marshal.GetLastWin32Error();
+                    errorMsg = $"LoadLibrary failed with error {win32Error}";
+                    // add extra info for the most common error ERROR_MOD_NOT_FOUND
+                    if (win32Error == 126)
+                    {
+                        errorMsg += ": The specified module could not be found.";
+                    }
+                }
+                return handle;
             }
             if (PlatformApis.IsLinux)
             {
@@ -179,13 +189,13 @@ namespace Grpc.Core.Internal
                 }
             }
             throw new FileNotFoundException(
-                String.Format("Error loading native library. Not found in any of the possible locations: {0}", 
+                String.Format("Error loading native library. Not found in any of the possible locations: {0}",
                     string.Join(",", libraryPathAlternatives)));
         }
 
         private static class Windows
         {
-            [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
+            [DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, SetLastError = true)]
             internal static extern IntPtr LoadLibrary(string filename);
 
             [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]