Index: libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.1
===================================================================
--- libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.1
+++ libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.1
@@ -199,6 +199,11 @@
 sandboxes, when global namespaces such as the filesystem are unavailable.
 It is consulted just after LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
 This variable is unset for set-user-ID and set-group-ID programs.
+.It Ev LD_PRINT_ERROR
+When set to a nonempty string, causes
+.Nm
+to print any error messages that would be available to the application via
+.Xr dlopen 3 .
 .It Ev LD_BIND_NOW
 When set to a nonempty string, causes
 .Nm
Index: libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.c
===================================================================
--- libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.c
+++ libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.c
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@
 static char *ld_elf_hints_path;	/* Environment variable for alternative hints path */
 static char *ld_tracing;	/* Called from ldd to print libs */
 static char *ld_utrace;		/* Use utrace() to log events. */
+static char *ld_printerror;	/* Report _rtld_error() messages to stdout */
 static struct obj_entry_q obj_list;	/* Queue of all loaded objects */
 static Obj_Entry *obj_main;	/* The main program shared object */
 static Obj_Entry obj_rtld;	/* The dynamic linker shared object */
@@ -453,6 +454,7 @@
 	(ld_elf_hints_path != NULL) || ld_loadfltr;
     ld_tracing = getenv(_LD("TRACE_LOADED_OBJECTS"));
     ld_utrace = getenv(_LD("UTRACE"));
+    ld_printerror = getenv(LD_ "PRINT_ERROR");
 
     if ((ld_elf_hints_path == NULL) || strlen(ld_elf_hints_path) == 0)
 	ld_elf_hints_path = ld_elf_hints_default;
@@ -764,6 +766,8 @@
     rtld_vsnprintf(buf, sizeof buf, fmt, ap);
     error_message = buf;
     va_end(ap);
+    if (ld_printerror != NULL && *ld_printerror != '\0')
+	rtld_printf("RTLD Error: %s\n", error_message);
 }
 
 /*