diff --git a/lib/init-7.scm b/lib/init-7.scm
index 9a16fadf..759aee01 100644
--- a/lib/init-7.scm
+++ b/lib/init-7.scm
@@ -956,15 +956,12 @@
   (let ((thunk (compile x (if (pair? o) (car o) (interaction-environment)))))
     (if (procedure? thunk) (thunk) (raise thunk))))
 
-(define (load base . o)
+(define (load file . o)
   (let* ((env (if (pair? o) (car o) (interaction-environment)))
-         (file (find-module-file base))
-         (len (and file (string-length file)))
+         (len (string-length file))
          (ext *shared-object-extension*)
          (ext-len (string-length ext)))
     (cond
-     ((not file)
-      (error "couldn't find file" base))
      ((and (> len ext-len 0) (equal? ext (substring file (- len ext-len))))
       (%load file env))
      (else