diff --git a/src/libraries/Common/src/Interop/Unix/System.Net.Security.Native/Interop.NetSecurityNative.IsNtlmInstalled.cs b/src/libraries/Common/src/Interop/Unix/System.Net.Security.Native/Interop.NetSecurityNative.IsNtlmInstalled.cs
index b799ef433e8830..d841d4c65a7dd1 100644
--- a/src/libraries/Common/src/Interop/Unix/System.Net.Security.Native/Interop.NetSecurityNative.IsNtlmInstalled.cs
+++ b/src/libraries/Common/src/Interop/Unix/System.Net.Security.Native/Interop.NetSecurityNative.IsNtlmInstalled.cs
@@ -15,24 +15,13 @@ internal static partial class NetSecurityNative
         [LibraryImport(Interop.Libraries.NetSecurityNative, EntryPoint = "NetSecurityNative_EnsureGssInitialized")]
         private static partial int EnsureGssInitialized();
 
-        static NetSecurityNative()
-        {
-            GssInitializer.Initialize();
-        }
+        private const string GssApiLibraryName = "libgssapi_krb5.so.2";
 
-        internal static class GssInitializer
+        static NetSecurityNative()
         {
-            static GssInitializer()
-            {
-                if (EnsureGssInitialized() != 0)
-                {
-                    throw new InvalidOperationException();
-                }
-            }
-
-            internal static void Initialize()
+            if (EnsureGssInitialized() != 0)
             {
-                // No-op that exists to provide a hook for other static constructors.
+                throw new DllNotFoundException(GssApiLibraryName);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/libraries/System.Net.Security/src/System/Net/NegotiateAuthenticationPal.Unix.cs b/src/libraries/System.Net.Security/src/System/Net/NegotiateAuthenticationPal.Unix.cs
index 475483944f84a3..1daba776edc724 100644
--- a/src/libraries/System.Net.Security/src/System/Net/NegotiateAuthenticationPal.Unix.cs
+++ b/src/libraries/System.Net.Security/src/System/Net/NegotiateAuthenticationPal.Unix.cs
@@ -40,21 +40,22 @@ public static NegotiateAuthenticationPal Create(NegotiateAuthenticationClientOpt
             {
                 return new UnixNegotiateAuthenticationPal(clientOptions);
             }
-            catch (Interop.NetSecurityNative.GssApiException gex)
+            catch (Exception ex) when (ex is Interop.NetSecurityNative.GssApiException or TypeInitializationException)
             {
-                if (NetEventSource.Log.IsEnabled()) NetEventSource.Error(null, gex);
-                NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode statusCode = UnixNegotiateAuthenticationPal.GetErrorCode(gex);
-                if (statusCode <= NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.GenericFailure)
+                if (NetEventSource.Log.IsEnabled()) NetEventSource.Error(null, ex);
+                NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode statusCode = NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.Unsupported;
+
+                if (ex is Interop.NetSecurityNative.GssApiException gex)
                 {
-                    statusCode = NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.Unsupported;
+                    statusCode = UnixNegotiateAuthenticationPal.GetErrorCode(gex);
+                    if (statusCode <= NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.GenericFailure)
+                    {
+                        statusCode = NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.Unsupported;
+                    }
                 }
+
                 return new UnsupportedNegotiateAuthenticationPal(clientOptions, statusCode);
             }
-            catch (EntryPointNotFoundException)
-            {
-                // GSSAPI shim may not be available on some platforms (Linux Bionic)
-                return new UnsupportedNegotiateAuthenticationPal(clientOptions);
-            }
         }
 
         public static NegotiateAuthenticationPal Create(NegotiateAuthenticationServerOptions serverOptions)
@@ -63,21 +64,22 @@ public static NegotiateAuthenticationPal Create(NegotiateAuthenticationServerOpt
             {
                 return new UnixNegotiateAuthenticationPal(serverOptions);
             }
-            catch (Interop.NetSecurityNative.GssApiException gex)
+            catch (Exception ex) when (ex is Interop.NetSecurityNative.GssApiException or TypeInitializationException)
             {
-                if (NetEventSource.Log.IsEnabled()) NetEventSource.Error(null, gex);
-                NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode statusCode = UnixNegotiateAuthenticationPal.GetErrorCode(gex);
-                if (statusCode <= NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.GenericFailure)
+                if (NetEventSource.Log.IsEnabled()) NetEventSource.Error(null, ex);
+
+                NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode statusCode = NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.Unsupported;
+
+                if (ex is Interop.NetSecurityNative.GssApiException gex)
                 {
-                    statusCode = NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.Unsupported;
+                    statusCode = UnixNegotiateAuthenticationPal.GetErrorCode(gex);
+                    if (statusCode <= NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.GenericFailure)
+                    {
+                        statusCode = NegotiateAuthenticationStatusCode.Unsupported;
+                    }
                 }
                 return new UnsupportedNegotiateAuthenticationPal(serverOptions, statusCode);
             }
-            catch (EntryPointNotFoundException)
-            {
-                // GSSAPI shim may not be available on some platforms (Linux Bionic)
-                return new UnsupportedNegotiateAuthenticationPal(serverOptions);
-            }
         }
 
         internal sealed class UnixNegotiateAuthenticationPal : NegotiateAuthenticationPal
diff --git a/src/native/libs/System.Net.Security.Native/pal_gssapi.c b/src/native/libs/System.Net.Security.Native/pal_gssapi.c
index 9be66b8a7566c2..d793217a4a671d 100644
--- a/src/native/libs/System.Net.Security.Native/pal_gssapi.c
+++ b/src/native/libs/System.Net.Security.Native/pal_gssapi.c
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ static void* volatile s_gssLib = NULL;
 static int32_t ensure_gss_shim_initialized(void)
 {
     void* lib = dlopen(gss_lib_name, RTLD_LAZY);
-    if (lib == NULL) { fprintf(stderr, "Cannot load library %s \nError: %s\n", gss_lib_name, dlerror()); return -1; }
+    if (lib == NULL) { return -1; }
 
     // check is someone else has opened and published s_gssLib already
     if (!pal_atomic_cas_ptr(&s_gssLib, lib, NULL))
@@ -130,12 +130,10 @@ static int32_t ensure_gss_shim_initialized(void)
         dlclose(lib);
     }
 
-    // initialize indirection pointers for all functions, like:
-    //   gss_accept_sec_context_ptr = (TYPEOF(gss_accept_sec_context)*)dlsym(s_gssLib, "gss_accept_sec_context");
-    //   if (gss_accept_sec_context_ptr == NULL) { fprintf(stderr, "Cannot get symbol %s from %s \nError: %s\n", "gss_accept_sec_context", gss_lib_name, dlerror()); return -1; }
+    // initialize indirection pointers for all functions
 #define PER_FUNCTION_BLOCK(fn) \
     fn##_ptr = (TYPEOF(fn)*)dlsym(s_gssLib, #fn); \
-    if (fn##_ptr == NULL) { fprintf(stderr, "Cannot get symbol " #fn " from %s \nError: %s\n", gss_lib_name, dlerror()); return -1; }
+    if (fn##_ptr == NULL) { fprintf(stderr, "Cannot get symbol " #fn " from %s \nError: %s\n", gss_lib_name, dlerror()); abort(); }
 
     FOR_ALL_GSS_FUNCTIONS
 #undef PER_FUNCTION_BLOCK