diff --git a/FoundationDB.Client/Native/FdbNative.cs b/FoundationDB.Client/Native/FdbNative.cs
index 460032f0f..bf4adbc06 100644
--- a/FoundationDB.Client/Native/FdbNative.cs
+++ b/FoundationDB.Client/Native/FdbNative.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ internal static unsafe class FdbNative
 		private const string FDB_C_DLL = "libfdb_c.so";
 #else
 		/// <summary>Name of the C API dll used for P/Invoking</summary>
-		private const string FDB_C_DLL = "fdb_c.dll";
+		private const string FDB_C_DLL = "fdb_c";
 #endif
 
 		/// <summary>Handle on the native FDB C API library</summary>
@@ -235,42 +235,72 @@ public static extern void fdb_transaction_clear_range(
 
 		static FdbNative()
 		{
-			// Impact of NativeLibPath:
-			// - If null, don't preload the library, and let the CLR find the file using the default P/Invoke behavior
-			// - If String.Empty, call win32 LoadLibrary("fdb_c.dll") and let the os find the file (using the standard OS behavior)
-			// - Else, combine the path with "fdb_c.dll" and call LoadLibrary with the resulting (relative or absolute) path
+			var libraryPath = GetPreloadPath();
 
-			var libraryPath = Fdb.Options.NativeLibPath;
-			if (libraryPath != null)
+			if (libraryPath == null)
+			{ // PInvoke will load
+				return;
+			}
+
+			try
 			{
-				try
+				FdbCLib = UnmanagedLibrary.Load(libraryPath);
+			}
+			catch (Exception e)
+			{
+				if (FdbCLib != null) FdbCLib.Dispose();
+				FdbCLib = null;
+				if (e is BadImageFormatException && IntPtr.Size == 4)
 				{
-					if (libraryPath.Length == 0)
-					{ // CLR will handle the search
-						libraryPath = FDB_C_DLL;
-					}
-					else if (!libraryPath.EndsWith(".dll", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
-					{ // add the file name
-						libraryPath = Path.Combine(Fdb.Options.NativeLibPath, FDB_C_DLL);
-					}
-
-					FdbCLib = UnmanagedLibrary.Load(libraryPath);
+					e = new InvalidOperationException("The native FDB client is 64-bit only, and cannot be loaded in a 32-bit process.", e);
 				}
-				catch (Exception e)
+				else
 				{
-					if (FdbCLib != null) FdbCLib.Dispose();
-					FdbCLib = null;
-					if (e is BadImageFormatException && IntPtr.Size == 4)
-					{
-						e = new InvalidOperationException("The native FDB client is 64-bit only, and cannot be loaded in a 32-bit process.", e);
-					}
-					else
-					{
-						e = new InvalidOperationException("An error occurred while loading the native FoundationDB library", e);
-					}
-					LibraryLoadError = ExceptionDispatchInfo.Capture(e);
+					e = new InvalidOperationException($"An error occurred while loading the native FoundationDB library: '{libraryPath}'.", e);
+				}
+				LibraryLoadError = ExceptionDispatchInfo.Capture(e);
+			}
+			
+		}
+
+		private static string GetPreloadPath()
+		{
+			// we need to provide sensible defaults for loading the native library
+			// if this method returns null we'll let PInvoke deal
+			// otherwise - use explicit platform-specific dll loading
+			var libraryPath = Fdb.Options.NativeLibPath;
+
+			// on non-windows, library loading by convention just works.
+			// unless override is provided, just let PInvoke do the work
+			if (!RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Windows))
+			{
+				if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(libraryPath))
+				{
+					return null;
 				}
+				// otherwise just use the provided path
+				return libraryPath;
+			}
+
+			// Impact of NativeLibPath on windows:
+			// - If null, don't preload the library, and let the CLR find the file using the default P/Invoke behavior
+			// - If String.Empty, call win32 LoadLibrary(FDB_C_DLL + ".dll") and let the os find the file (using the standard OS behavior)
+			// - If path is folder, append the FDB_C_DLL
+			var winDllWithExtension = FDB_C_DLL + ".dll";
+			if (libraryPath == null)
+			{
+				return null;
+			}
+			if (libraryPath.Length == 0)
+			{
+				return winDllWithExtension;
+			}
+			var fileName = Path.GetFileName(libraryPath);
+			if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(fileName))
+			{
+				libraryPath = Path.Combine(libraryPath, winDllWithExtension);
 			}
+			return libraryPath;
 		}
 
 		private static void EnsureLibraryIsLoaded()
diff --git a/FoundationDB.Client/Native/UnmanagedLibrary.cs b/FoundationDB.Client/Native/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
index 62659bbdd..968045b0a 100644
--- a/FoundationDB.Client/Native/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
+++ b/FoundationDB.Client/Native/UnmanagedLibrary.cs
@@ -72,23 +72,24 @@ protected override bool ReleaseHandle()
 		[SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
 		private static class NativeMethods
 		{
-#if __MonoCS__
-			const string KERNEL = "dl";
+			const string LIBDL = "dl";
+
 
-			[DllImport(KERNEL)]
+			[DllImport(LIBDL)]
 			public static extern SafeLibraryHandle dlopen(string fileName, int flags);
 
-			[DllImport(KERNEL, SetLastError = true)]
+
+			[DllImport(LIBDL, SetLastError = true)]
 			[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
 			public static extern int dlclose(IntPtr hModule);
 
-			public static SafeLibraryHandle LoadLibrary(string fileName)
-			{
+#if __MonoCS__
 
+			public static SafeLibraryHandle LoadPlatformLibrary(string fileName)
+			{
 				return dlopen(fileName, 1);
-				
 			}
-			public static bool FreeLibrary(IntPtr hModule) { return dlclose(hModule) == 0; }
+			public static bool FreePlatformLibrary(IntPtr hModule) { return dlclose(hModule) == 0; }
 
 #else
 			const string KERNEL = "kernel32";
@@ -100,6 +101,24 @@ public static SafeLibraryHandle LoadLibrary(string fileName)
 			[DllImport(KERNEL, SetLastError = true)]
 			[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
 			public static extern bool FreeLibrary(IntPtr hModule);
+
+			public static SafeLibraryHandle LoadPlatformLibrary(string fileName) 
+			{
+				if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Windows))
+				{
+					return LoadLibrary(fileName);
+				}
+				return dlopen(fileName, 1);
+			}
+
+			public static bool FreePlatformLibrary(IntPtr hModule)
+			{
+				if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Windows))
+				{
+					return FreeLibrary(hModule);
+				}
+				return dlclose(hModule) == 0;
+			}
 #endif
 		}
 
@@ -112,7 +131,7 @@ public static UnmanagedLibrary Load(string path)
 		{
 			if (path == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("path");
 
-			var handle = NativeMethods.LoadLibrary(path);
+			var handle = NativeMethods.LoadPlatformLibrary(path);
 			if (handle == null || handle.IsInvalid)
 			{
 				var ex = Marshal.GetExceptionForHR(Marshal.GetHRForLastWin32Error());