@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ public class PythonEngine : IDisposable
         private static IntPtr _pythonHome = IntPtr.Zero;
         private static IntPtr _programName = IntPtr.Zero;
         private static IntPtr _pythonPath = IntPtr.Zero;
+        private static string _userPythonPath = "";
 
         public PythonEngine()
         {
@@ -140,20 +141,13 @@ public static void Initialize()
             Initialize(setSysArgv: true);
         }
 
-        [DllImport("/usr/lib/libSystem.dylib", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
-        public static extern IntPtr dlopen(String fileName, int flags);
-
-        [DllImport("/usr/lib/libSystem.dylib", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        private static extern int dlclose(IntPtr handle);
-
         public static void Initialize(string userPythonPath){
-            IntPtr handle = dlopen(userPythonPath,0x8);
+            _userPythonPath = userPythonPath;
             Console.WriteLine("Library loaded: " + userPythonPath);
             Initialize();
-            dlclose(handle);
         }
 
-        public static void Initialize(bool setSysArgv = true, bool initSigs = false, string userPythonPath = "")
+        public static void Initialize(bool setSysArgv = true, bool initSigs = false)
         {
             Initialize(Enumerable.Empty<string>(), setSysArgv: setSysArgv, initSigs: initSigs);
         }
@@ -168,7 +162,7 @@ public static void Initialize(bool setSysArgv = true, bool initSigs = false, str
         /// interpreter lock (GIL) to call this method.
         /// initSigs can be set to 1 to do default python signal configuration. This will override the way signals are handled by the application.
         /// </remarks>
-        public static void Initialize(IEnumerable<string> args, bool setSysArgv = true, bool initSigs = false, string userPythonPath = "")
+        public static void Initialize(IEnumerable<string> args, bool setSysArgv = true, bool initSigs = false)
         {
             if (!initialized)
             {
@@ -178,7 +172,7 @@ public static void Initialize(IEnumerable<string> args, bool setSysArgv = true,
                 // during an initial "import clr", and the world ends shortly thereafter.
                 // This is probably masking some bad mojo happening somewhere in Runtime.Initialize().
                 delegateManager = new DelegateManager();
-                Runtime.Initialize(initSigs);
+                Runtime.Initialize(initSigs,_userPythonPath);
                 initialized = true;
                 Exceptions.Clear();
 
 
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 namespace Python.Runtime
 {
     [SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
-    internal static class NativeMethods
+    public static class NativeMethods
     {
 #if MONO_LINUX || MONO_OSX
 #if NETSTANDARD
@@ -272,8 +272,12 @@ public enum MachineType
         /// <summary>
         /// Initialize the runtime...
         /// </summary>
-        internal static void Initialize(bool initSigs = false)
+        internal static void Initialize(bool initSigs = false, string userPythonPath = "")
         {
+            if (userPythonPath.Length > 0){
+                 NativeMethods.dlopen(userPythonPath,0x8);
+                 Console.WriteLine("loaded library: " + userPythonPath);
+            }
             if (Py_IsInitialized() == 0)
             {
                 Py_InitializeEx(initSigs ? 1 : 0);
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
8	8	namespace Python.Runtime
9	9	{
10	10	[SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
11		- internal static class NativeMethods
	11	+ public static class NativeMethods
12	12	{
13	13	#if MONO_LINUX \|\| MONO_OSX
14	14	#if NETSTANDARD
@@ -272,8 +272,12 @@ public enum MachineType
272	272	/// <summary>
273	273	/// Initialize the runtime...
274	274	/// </summary>
275		- internal static void Initialize(bool initSigs = false)
	275	+ internal static void Initialize(bool initSigs = false, string userPythonPath = "")
276	276	{
	277	+ if (userPythonPath.Length > 0){
	278	+ NativeMethods.dlopen(userPythonPath,0x8);
	279	+ Console.WriteLine("loaded library: " + userPythonPath);
	280	+ }
277	281	if (Py_IsInitialized() == 0)
278	282	{
279	283	Py_InitializeEx(initSigs ? 1 : 0);