diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/print-file-var.exp b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/print-file-var.exp
index 9abe87d7758..841eb22d957 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/print-file-var.exp
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/print-file-var.exp
@@ -59,8 +59,10 @@ proc test {hidden dlopen version_id_main lang} {
     set main_opts [list debug $lang]
     set link_opts [list debug shlib=${libobj1}]
 
+    set target_libobj2 [gdb_download_shlib $libobj2]
+
     if {$dlopen} {
-	lappend main_opts "additional_flags=-DSHLIB_NAME=\"$libobj2\""
+	lappend main_opts "additional_flags=-DSHLIB_NAME=\"$target_libobj2\""
 	lappend link_opts "shlib_load"
     } else {
 	lappend link_opts "shlib=${libobj2}"
@@ -79,7 +81,7 @@ proc test {hidden dlopen version_id_main lang} {
 
     clean_restart $executable
     gdb_load_shlib $libobj1
-    gdb_load_shlib $libobj2
+    gdb_locate_shlib $libobj2
 
     if ![runto_main] {
 	return -1
diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/lib/gdb.exp b/gdb/testsuite/lib/gdb.exp
index 34c7a1cb50f..0543da31da6 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/lib/gdb.exp
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/lib/gdb.exp
@@ -5870,30 +5870,40 @@ proc gdb_remote_download {dest fromfile {tofile {}}} {
     }
 }
 
-# gdb_load_shlib LIB...
-#
-# Copy the listed library to the target.
+# Copy shlib FILE to the target.
 
-proc gdb_load_shlib { file } {
+proc gdb_download_shlib { file } {
+    return [gdb_remote_download target [shlib_target_file $file]]
+}
+
+# Set solib-search-path to allow gdb to locate shlib FILE.
+
+proc gdb_locate_shlib { file } {
     global gdb_spawn_id
 
     if ![info exists gdb_spawn_id] {
 	perror "gdb_load_shlib: GDB is not running"
     }
 
-    set dest [gdb_remote_download target [shlib_target_file $file]]
-
-    if {[is_remote target]} {
-	# If the target is remote, we need to tell gdb where to find the
-	# libraries.
-	#
-	# We could set this even when not testing remotely, but a user
-	# generally won't set it unless necessary.  In order to make the tests
-	# more like the real-life scenarios, we don't set it for local testing.
-	gdb_test "set solib-search-path [file dirname $file]" "" \
-	    "set solib-search-path for [file tail $file]"
+    # If the target is remote, we need to tell gdb where to find the
+    # libraries.
+    if { ![is_remote target] } {
+	return
     }
 
+    # We could set this even when not testing remotely, but a user
+    # generally won't set it unless necessary.  In order to make the tests
+    # more like the real-life scenarios, we don't set it for local testing.
+    gdb_test "set solib-search-path [file dirname $file]" "" \
+	"set solib-search-path for [file tail $file]"
+}
+
+# Copy shlib FILE to the target and set solib-search-path to allow gdb to
+# locate it.
+
+proc gdb_load_shlib { file } {
+    set dest [gdb_download_shlib $file]
+    gdb_locate_shlib $file
     return $dest
 }