Index: stand/liblua/lutils.c
===================================================================
--- stand/liblua/lutils.c
+++ stand/liblua/lutils.c
@@ -338,6 +338,36 @@
 	return 1;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Implements try_include(modname)
+ * Attempts to require(modname), but silently fails instead of raising an
+ * error. Returns nil if it failed to load, or the value that would have been
+ * returned by require if it succeeded.
+ */
+static int
+lua_try_include(lua_State *L)
+{
+	const char *mod_name;
+	int status;
+
+	if (lua_gettop(L) != 1 || !lua_isstring(L, 1)) {
+		lua_pushnil(L);
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	mod_name = lua_tostring(L, 1);
+	lua_getglobal(L, "require");
+	lua_pushstring(L, mod_name);
+	status = lua_pcall(L, 1, 1, 0);
+	/* Push the return of require(modname) as return value */
+	if (status == LUA_OK)
+		return 1;
+	/* Otherwise, just silently push nil and return */
+	lua_pop(L, 1);
+	lua_pushnil(L);
+	return 1;
+}
+
 #define REG_SIMPLE(n)	{ #n, lua_ ## n }
 static const struct luaL_Reg loaderlib[] = {
 	REG_SIMPLE(delay),
@@ -377,6 +407,7 @@
 	lua_setfield(L, -2, "machine_arch");
 	/* Set global printc to loader.printc */
 	lua_register(L, "printc", lua_printc);
+	lua_register(L, "try_include", lua_try_include);
 	return 1;
 }
 
Index: stand/lua/loader.lua
===================================================================
--- stand/lua/loader.lua
+++ stand/lua/loader.lua
@@ -41,12 +41,7 @@
 	menu = require("menu")
 end
 local password = require("password")
-
-local result = lfs.attributes("/boot/lua/local.lua")
--- Effectively discard any errors; we'll just act if it succeeds.
-if result ~= nil then
-	require("local")
-end
+try_include("local")
 
 config.load()
 password.check()