diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 4c1080a..9c083e2 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
 Core and builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #1069410: The "can't load dll" message box on Windows is 
+  suppressed while an extension is loaded by calling SetErrorMode in
+  dynload_win.c. The error is still reported properly.
+
 - Bug #1915: Python compiles with --enable-unicode=no again. However
   several extension methods and modules do not work without unicode
   support.
diff --git a/Python/dynload_win.c b/Python/dynload_win.c
index 751790d..7c71d9c 100644
--- a/Python/dynload_win.c
+++ b/Python/dynload_win.c
@@ -171,11 +171,16 @@
 		HINSTANCE hDLL = NULL;
 		char pathbuf[260];
 		LPTSTR dummy;
+		unsigned int old_mode;
 		/* We use LoadLibraryEx so Windows looks for dependent DLLs 
 		    in directory of pathname first.  However, Windows95
 		    can sometimes not work correctly unless the absolute
 		    path is used.  If GetFullPathName() fails, the LoadLibrary
 		    will certainly fail too, so use its error code */
+
+		/* Don't display a message box when Python can't load a DLL */
+		old_mode = SetErrorMode(SEM_FAILCRITICALERRORS);
+
 		if (GetFullPathName(pathname,
 				    sizeof(pathbuf),
 				    pathbuf,
@@ -183,6 +188,10 @@
 			/* XXX This call doesn't exist in Windows CE */
 			hDLL = LoadLibraryEx(pathname, NULL,
 					     LOAD_WITH_ALTERED_SEARCH_PATH);
+
+		/* restore old error mode settings */
+		SetErrorMode(old_mode);
+
 		if (hDLL==NULL){
 			char errBuf[256];
 			unsigned int errorCode;