diff -ruN pyperl-1.0.1/dlhack.c pyperl-1.0.1-patched/dlhack.c
--- pyperl-1.0.1/dlhack.c	2001-03-07 06:36:16.000000000 +1100
+++ pyperl-1.0.1-patched/dlhack.c	2003-09-05 17:12:12.000000000 +1000
@@ -1,50 +1,71 @@
 #include <Python.h>
 #include <dlfcn.h>
 
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
 /* This is a fake perl module that will look for the real thing ('perl2.so')
  * in sys.path and then load this one with the RTLD_GLOBAL set in order to
  * make the symbols available for extension modules that perl might load.
  */
 
-extern void initperl()
-{
+extern void initperl() {
     void* handle;
+	char *error, *tmp;
     int i, npath, len;
     char buf[1024];
+    int buflen = 1024;
 
     PyObject *path = PySys_GetObject("path");
     if (path == NULL || !PyList_Check(path)) {
-	PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError,
-			"sys.path must be a list of directory names");
-	return;
+		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError, "sys.path must be a list of directory names");
+		return;
     }
 
     npath = PyList_Size(path);
-    for (i = 0; i < npath; i++) {
-	PyObject *v = PyList_GetItem(path, i);
-	if (!PyString_Check(v))
-	    continue;
-	len = PyString_Size(v);
-	if (len + 10 >= sizeof(buf))
-	    continue; /* Too long */
-	strcpy(buf, PyString_AsString(v));
-	if (buf[0] != '/')
-	    continue; /* Not absolute */
-	if (strlen(buf) != len)
-	    continue; /* v contains '\0' */
-	strcpy(buf+len, "/perl2.so");
-
-	handle = dlopen(buf, RTLD_NOW | RTLD_GLOBAL);
-	if (handle) {
-	    void (*f)() = dlsym(handle, "initperl2");
-	    if (f) {
-		f();
-	    }
-	    else {
-		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError, "initperl2 entry point not found");
-	    }
-	    return;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < npath; i++) {
+		PyObject *v = PyList_GetItem(path, i);
+		if (!PyString_Check(v)) continue;
+
+		len = PyString_Size(v);
+		if (len + 10 >= sizeof(buf)) {
+			continue; /* Too long */
+		}
+
+		strcpy(buf, PyString_AsString(v));
+		if (buf[0] != '/') {
+			continue; /* Not absolute */
+		}
+
+		if (strlen(buf) != len) {
+			continue; /* v contains '\0' */
+		}
+
+		strcpy(buf+len, "/perl2.so");
+
+		/* only bother with dlopen()ing files that exist. 0 is success. */
+		if (*buf && access (buf, F_OK | R_OK) == 0) {
+			handle = dlopen(buf, RTLD_NOW | RTLD_GLOBAL);
+			error = dlerror();
+			if (!error && handle) {
+				void (*f)() = dlsym(handle, "initperl2");
+				if (f) {
+					f();
+				} else {
+					PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError, "initperl2 entry point not found");
+				}
+				return;
+			}
+		}
 	}
+
+	/* If we get to here, the return in the previous block was never reached.
+	 * We must have a "terminal" error. */
+    if (error != NULL) {
+		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError, error);
+    } else {
+		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError, "perl2.so not found");
     }
-    PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError, "perl2.so not found");
 }
diff -ruN pyperl-1.0.1/Python-Object/Object.xs pyperl-1.0.1-patched/Python-Object/Object.xs
--- pyperl-1.0.1/Python-Object/Object.xs	2001-03-07 06:36:16.000000000 +1100
+++ pyperl-1.0.1-patched/Python-Object/Object.xs	2003-09-04 19:55:50.000000000 +1000
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@
 #include "../thrd_ctx.h"
 #include "../pyo.h"
 
+#define SvOK_off(sv)            (SvFLAGS(sv) &= ~(SVf_OK|SVf_AMAGIC|    \
+                                                  SVf_IVisUV|SVf_UTF8), \
+                                                        SvOOK_off(sv))
+
+
 /* so we can use different typemaps for borrowed/owned obj refs */
 typedef PyObject NewPyObject;
 typedef PyObject NewPyObjectX;
diff -ruN pyperl-1.0.1/svrv_object.c pyperl-1.0.1-patched/svrv_object.c
--- pyperl-1.0.1/svrv_object.c	2001-03-07 06:36:16.000000000 +1100
+++ pyperl-1.0.1-patched/svrv_object.c	2003-09-08 15:15:22.000000000 +1000
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@
     
     diff = newlen - len;
     if (newlen && !AvREAL(av) && AvREIFY(av))
-	av_reify(av);
+	Perl_av_reify(PERL_GET_THX, av);
 
 #ifdef SPLICE_DEBUG
     printf("splice(offset=%d, len=%d, diff=%d, after=%d, fill=%d, max=%d, pre=%d)\n",
diff -ruN pyperl-1.0.1/try_perlapi.pl pyperl-1.0.1-patched/try_perlapi.pl
--- pyperl-1.0.1/try_perlapi.pl	2001-03-07 06:36:16.000000000 +1100
+++ pyperl-1.0.1-patched/try_perlapi.pl	2003-09-08 15:12:11.000000000 +1000
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 print C <<EOT;
 
+#define cxinc()           Perl_cxinc(PERL_GET_THX)
+
 #include <EXTERN.h>
 #include <perl.h>
 #include <Python.h>
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@
     ENTER;
     SAVETMPS;
 
-    push_return(Nullop);
+    Perl_push_return(PERL_GET_THX, Nullop);
     PUSHBLOCK(cx, (CXt_EVAL|CXp_TRYBLOCK), PL_stack_sp);
     PUSHEVAL(cx, 0, 0);
     PL_eval_root = PL_op;
@@ -71,7 +73,7 @@
 
         POPBLOCK(cx,newpm);
         POPEVAL(cx);
-        pop_return();
+        Perl_pop_return(PERL_GET_THX);
         PL_curpm = newpm;
     }