diff --git a/ext/standard/dl.c b/ext/standard/dl.c
index e2b37ff2e24..5122f890c57 100644
--- a/ext/standard/dl.c
+++ b/ext/standard/dl.c
@@ -100,9 +100,9 @@ void php_dl(pval *file, int type, pval *return_value)
 
 
 	if (type==MODULE_PERSISTENT) {
-		/* Use the configuration hash directly */
+		/* Use the configuration hash directly, the INI mechanism is not yet initialized */
 		if (cfg_get_string("extension_dir", &extension_dir)==FAILURE) {
-			extension_dir = NULL;
+			extension_dir = PHP_EXTENSION_DIR;
 		}
 	} else {
 		extension_dir = PG(extension_dir);