diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 196df18..928fa62 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -422,6 +422,11 @@ ULONG __stdcall ddraw_Release(IDirectDrawImpl *This)
             ddraw->render.ev = NULL;
         }
 
+        if(This->real_dll)
+        {
+            FreeLibrary(This->real_dll);
+        }
+
         DeleteCriticalSection(&This->cs);
 
         /* restore old wndproc, subsequent ddraw creation will otherwise fail */
@@ -488,21 +493,23 @@ HRESULT WINAPI DirectDrawCreate(GUID FAR* lpGUID, LPDIRECTDRAW FAR* lplpDD, IUnk
         */
     } 
 
-    HMODULE real_dll = LoadLibrary("system32\\ddraw.dll");
-    if(!real_dll)
-    {
-        return DDERR_GENERIC;
-    }
-
     IDirectDrawImpl *This = (IDirectDrawImpl *)HeapAlloc(GetProcessHeap(), HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY, sizeof(IDirectDrawImpl));
     This->lpVtbl = &iface;
     printf(" This = %p\n", This);
     *lplpDD = (LPDIRECTDRAW)This;
+    This->Ref = 0;
+    ddraw_AddRef(This);
+
     ddraw = This;
 
-    This->DirectDrawCreate = (HRESULT WINAPI (*)(GUID FAR*, LPDIRECTDRAW FAR*, IUnknown FAR*))GetProcAddress(real_dll, "DirectDrawCreate");
+    This->real_dll = LoadLibrary("system32\\ddraw.dll");
+    if(!This->real_dll)
+    {
+        ddraw_Release(This);
+        return DDERR_GENERIC;
+    }
 
-    CloseHandle(real_dll);
+    This->DirectDrawCreate = (HRESULT WINAPI (*)(GUID FAR*, LPDIRECTDRAW FAR*, IUnknown FAR*))GetProcAddress(This->real_dll, "DirectDrawCreate");
 
     if(!This->DirectDrawCreate)
     {
@@ -628,8 +635,5 @@ HRESULT WINAPI DirectDrawCreate(GUID FAR* lpGUID, LPDIRECTDRAW FAR* lplpDD, IUnk
     GetPrivateProfileStringA("ddraw", "sensitivity", "0", tmp, sizeof(tmp), ini_path);
     This->sensitivity = strtof(tmp, NULL);
 
-    This->Ref = 0;
-    ddraw_AddRef(This);
-
     return DD_OK;
 }
diff --git a/main.h b/main.h
index 28e7396..3c5de93 100644
--- a/main.h
+++ b/main.h
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ typedef struct IDirectDrawImpl
     DEVMODE mode;
     struct IDirectDrawSurfaceImpl *primary;
     char title[128];
+    HMODULE real_dll;
 
     /* real export from system32\ddraw.dll */
     HRESULT WINAPI (*DirectDrawCreate)(GUID FAR*, LPDIRECTDRAW FAR*, IUnknown FAR*);