diff --git a/lib/chibi/doc.scm b/lib/chibi/doc.scm
index ec80c3bf..ed7c0a21 100644
--- a/lib/chibi/doc.scm
+++ b/lib/chibi/doc.scm
@@ -1039,7 +1039,8 @@ h4 { color: #222288; border-top: 1px solid #4588ba; }
 (define (extract-module-docs-from-files mod srcs includes stubs strict? exports . o)
   (let ((dir (or (and (pair? o) (car o)) (module-dir mod)))
         (defs (map (lambda (x)
-                     (let ((val (and mod (module-ref mod x))))
+                     (let ((val (and mod (protect (exn (else #f))
+                                           (module-ref mod x)))))
                        `(,x ,val ,(object-source val))))
                    exports)))
     (define (resolve-file file)