diff --git a/base/loading.jl b/base/loading.jl
index 3f5ba46906e3e..c7397df8f4515 100644
--- a/base/loading.jl
+++ b/base/loading.jl
@@ -1280,17 +1280,21 @@ function _include_from_serialized(pkg::PkgId, path::String, ocachepath::Union{No
         sv = try
             if ocachepath !== nothing
                 @debug "Loading object cache file $ocachepath for $(repr("text/plain", pkg))"
-                ccall(:jl_restore_package_image_from_file, Ref{SimpleVector}, (Cstring, Any, Cint, Cstring, Cint),
+                ccall(:jl_restore_package_image_from_file, Any, (Cstring, Any, Cint, Cstring, Cint),
                     ocachepath, depmods, #=completeinfo=#false, pkg.name, ignore_native)
             else
                 @debug "Loading cache file $path for $(repr("text/plain", pkg))"
-                ccall(:jl_restore_incremental, Ref{SimpleVector}, (Cstring, Any, Cint, Cstring),
+                ccall(:jl_restore_incremental, Any, (Cstring, Any, Cint, Cstring),
                     path, depmods, #=completeinfo=#false, pkg.name)
             end
         finally
             lock(require_lock)
         end
+        if isa(sv, Exception)
+            return sv
+        end
 
+        sv = sv::SimpleVector
         edges = sv[3]::Vector{Any}
         ext_edges = sv[4]::Union{Nothing,Vector{Any}}
         extext_methods = sv[5]::Vector{Any}