diff --git a/tests/utils.h b/tests/utils.h
index 3b4f2a9..4740e59 100644
--- a/tests/utils.h
+++ b/tests/utils.h
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@
 #define KNOWN_FAILURE_ON_BIONIC(x) x
 #endif
 
+// bionic's dlsym doesn't work in static binaries, so we can't access icu,
+// so any unicode test case will fail.
+static inline bool have_dl() {
+  return (dlopen("libc.so", 0) != nullptr);
+}
+
 static inline bool running_with_native_bridge() {
 #if defined(__BIONIC__)
   static const prop_info* pi = __system_property_find("ro.dalvik.vm.isa." ABI_STRING);