diff --git a/gmodule/meson.build b/gmodule/meson.build
index b238e3f9f..3195fdc29 100644
--- a/gmodule/meson.build
+++ b/gmodule/meson.build
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@ if g_module_impl == 'G_MODULE_IMPL_DL'
     message('Building for MSVC: assuming that symbols are prefixed with underscore')
     g_module_need_uscore = 1
   elif meson.can_run_host_binaries()
-    # FIXME: communicate result via stdout instead of return value, so non-0 return is not printed in bold red
     rres = cc.run(dlopen_dlsym_test_code,
                   dependencies : libdl_dep,
                   name : 'dlsym() preceding underscores')
-    if host_system == 'windows' or (rres.compiled() and rres.returncode() == 0)
+    if host_system == 'windows' or (rres.compiled() and
+      rres.returncode() == 0 and rres.stdout().to_int() == 0)
       g_module_need_uscore = 1
     endif
   else
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index e865f1213..36950537d 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -899,6 +899,8 @@ endif
 
 dlopen_dlsym_test_code = '''
 #include <dlfcn.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+int r;
 int glib_underscore_test (void) { return 42; }
 int main (int argc, char ** argv) {
   void *f1 = (void*)0, *f2 = (void*)0, *handle;
@@ -907,7 +909,8 @@ int main (int argc, char ** argv) {
     f1 = dlsym (handle, "glib_underscore_test");
     f2 = dlsym (handle, "_glib_underscore_test");
   }
-  return (!f2 || f1);
+  r = (!f2 || f1) ? puts ("1") : puts ("0");
+  return r > 0 ? 0 : r;
 }'''
 libdl_dep = []
 if cc.links(dlopen_dlsym_test_code, name : 'dlopen() and dlsym() in system libraries')