diff --git a/linker/dlfcn.cpp b/linker/dlfcn.cpp
index 7957921..d07ec86 100644
--- a/linker/dlfcn.cpp
+++ b/linker/dlfcn.cpp
@@ -89,9 +89,12 @@
   return dlopen_ext(filename, flags, nullptr, caller_addr);
 }
 
+extern android_namespace_t* g_anonymous_namespace;
+
 void* dlsym(void* handle, const char* symbol) {
   ScopedPthreadMutexLocker locker(&g_dl_mutex);
 
+  // TODO(dimitry): move (most of) the code below to linker.cpp
 #if !defined(__LP64__)
   if (handle == nullptr) {
     __bionic_format_dlerror("dlsym library handle is null", nullptr);
@@ -108,16 +111,10 @@
   const ElfW(Sym)* sym = nullptr;
   void* caller_addr = __builtin_return_address(0);
   soinfo* caller = find_containing_library(caller_addr);
-  if (caller == nullptr) {
-    char buf[256];
-    __libc_format_buffer(buf, sizeof(buf), "dlsym couldn't locate its caller address=%p; "
-                         "the caller was code not loaded by the dynamic linker", caller_addr);
-    __bionic_format_dlerror(buf, nullptr);
-    return nullptr;
-  }
+  android_namespace_t* ns = caller != nullptr ? caller->get_namespace() : g_anonymous_namespace;
 
   if (handle == RTLD_DEFAULT || handle == RTLD_NEXT) {
-    sym = dlsym_linear_lookup(caller->get_namespace(), symbol, &found, caller, handle);
+    sym = dlsym_linear_lookup(ns, symbol, &found, caller, handle);
   } else {
     sym = dlsym_handle_lookup(reinterpret_cast<soinfo*>(handle), &found, symbol);
   }
@@ -184,11 +181,12 @@
   return get_application_target_sdk_version();
 }
 
-bool android_init_public_namespace(const char* path) {
+bool android_init_namespaces(const char* public_ns_sonames,
+                             const char* anon_ns_library_path) {
   ScopedPthreadMutexLocker locker(&g_dl_mutex);
-  bool success = init_public_namespace(path);
+  bool success = init_namespaces(public_ns_sonames, anon_ns_library_path);
   if (!success) {
-    __bionic_format_dlerror("android_init_public_namespace failed", linker_get_error_buffer());
+    __bionic_format_dlerror("android_init_namespaces failed", linker_get_error_buffer());
   }
 
   return success;
@@ -234,11 +232,11 @@
   // 00000000001 1111111112222222222 3333333333444444444455555555556666666666777 777777788888888889999999999
   // 01234567890 1234567890123456789 0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 345678901234567890123456789
     "erate_phdr\0android_dlopen_ext\0android_set_application_target_sdk_version\0android_get_application_tar"
-  // 0000000000111111 111122222222223333333333444444 4444555555555566666666667
-  // 0123456789012345 678901234567890123456789012345 6789012345678901234567890
-    "get_sdk_version\0android_init_public_namespace\0android_create_namespace\0"
+  // 0000000000111111 111122222222223333333333 4444444444555555555566666
+  // 0123456789012345 678901234567890123456789 0123456789012345678901234
+    "get_sdk_version\0android_init_namespaces\0android_create_namespace\0"
 #if defined(__arm__)
-  // 271
+  // 265
     "dl_unwind_find_exidx\0"
 #endif
     ;
@@ -260,10 +258,10 @@
   ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(111, &android_dlopen_ext, 1),
   ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(130, &android_set_application_target_sdk_version, 1),
   ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(173, &android_get_application_target_sdk_version, 1),
-  ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(216, &android_init_public_namespace, 1),
-  ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(246, &android_create_namespace, 1),
+  ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(216, &android_init_namespaces, 1),
+  ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(240, &android_create_namespace, 1),
 #if defined(__arm__)
-  ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(271, &dl_unwind_find_exidx, 1),
+  ELFW(SYM_INITIALIZER)(265, &dl_unwind_find_exidx, 1),
 #endif
 };
 
diff --git a/linker/linker.cpp b/linker/linker.cpp
index 1ecf65b..9780231 100644
--- a/linker/linker.cpp
+++ b/linker/linker.cpp
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@
 };
 
 android_namespace_t g_default_namespace;
+android_namespace_t* g_anonymous_namespace = &g_default_namespace;
 
 static ElfW(Addr) get_elf_exec_load_bias(const ElfW(Ehdr)* elf);
 
@@ -2201,7 +2202,7 @@
     return nullptr;
   }
 
-  android_namespace_t* ns = caller->get_namespace();
+  android_namespace_t* ns = caller != nullptr ? caller->get_namespace() : g_anonymous_namespace;
 
   if (extinfo != nullptr) {
     if ((extinfo->flags & ~(ANDROID_DLEXT_VALID_FLAG_BITS)) != 0) {
@@ -2246,14 +2247,14 @@
   soinfo_unload(si);
 }
 
-bool init_public_namespace(const char* libs) {
-  CHECK(libs != nullptr);
+bool init_namespaces(const char* public_ns_sonames, const char* anon_ns_library_path) {
+  CHECK(public_ns_sonames != nullptr);
   if (g_public_namespace_initialized) {
-    DL_ERR("Public namespace has already been initialized.");
+    DL_ERR("public namespace has already been initialized.");
     return false;
   }
 
-  std::vector<std::string> sonames = android::base::Split(libs, ":");
+  std::vector<std::string> sonames = android::base::Split(public_ns_sonames, ":");
 
   ProtectedDataGuard guard;
 
@@ -2267,7 +2268,7 @@
     find_loaded_library_by_soname(&g_default_namespace, soname.c_str(), &candidate);
 
     if (candidate == nullptr) {
-      DL_ERR("Error initializing public namespace: \"%s\" was not found"
+      DL_ERR("error initializing public namespace: \"%s\" was not found"
              " in the default namespace", soname.c_str());
       return false;
     }
@@ -2276,8 +2277,18 @@
     g_public_namespace.push_back(candidate);
   }
 
-  failure_guard.disable();
   g_public_namespace_initialized = true;
+
+  // create anonymous namespace
+  android_namespace_t* anon_ns =
+      create_namespace("(anonymous)", nullptr, anon_ns_library_path, false);
+
+  if (anon_ns == nullptr) {
+    g_public_namespace_initialized = false;
+    return false;
+  }
+  g_anonymous_namespace = anon_ns;
+  failure_guard.disable();
   return true;
 }
 
@@ -2286,7 +2297,7 @@
                                       const char* default_library_path,
                                       bool is_isolated) {
   if (!g_public_namespace_initialized) {
-    DL_ERR("Cannot create namespace: public namespace is not initialized.");
+    DL_ERR("cannot create namespace: public namespace is not initialized.");
     return nullptr;
   }
 
diff --git a/linker/linker.h b/linker/linker.h
index c46b4e1..b391fc3 100644
--- a/linker/linker.h
+++ b/linker/linker.h
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@
 void set_application_target_sdk_version(uint32_t target);
 uint32_t get_application_target_sdk_version();
 
-bool init_public_namespace(const char* path);
+bool init_namespaces(const char* public_ns_sonames, const char* anon_ns_library_path);
 android_namespace_t* create_namespace(const char* name, const char* ld_library_path,
                                       const char* default_library_path, bool is_isolated);