diff --git a/include/dlfcn.h b/include/dlfcn.h
index de654f76a31b..794fde109b39 100644
--- a/include/dlfcn.h
+++ b/include/dlfcn.h
@@ -113,8 +113,7 @@ typedef struct  dl_serinfo {
 __BEGIN_DECLS
 /* XSI functions first. */
 int	 dlclose(void *);
-const char *
-	 dlerror(void);
+char	*dlerror(void);
 void	*dlopen(const char *, int);
 void	*dlsym(void * __restrict, const char * __restrict);
 
diff --git a/lib/libc/gen/dlfcn.c b/lib/libc/gen/dlfcn.c
index 4be88475a91a..a1ca29daceb4 100644
--- a/lib/libc/gen/dlfcn.c
+++ b/lib/libc/gen/dlfcn.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ __FBSDID("$FreeBSD$");
 #include <link.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
 
-static const char sorry[] = "Service unavailable";
+static char sorry[] = "Service unavailable";
 
 /*
  * For ELF, the dynamic linker directly resolves references to its
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ dlclose(void *handle)
 }
 
 #pragma weak dlerror
-const char *
+char *
 dlerror(void)
 {
 	return sorry;
diff --git a/lib/libc/gen/dlopen.3 b/lib/libc/gen/dlopen.3
index 6488befeeb53..d4b111a10026 100644
--- a/lib/libc/gen/dlopen.3
+++ b/lib/libc/gen/dlopen.3
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 .Fn dlsym "void * restrict handle" "const char * restrict symbol"
 .Ft dlfunc_t
 .Fn dlfunc "void * restrict handle" "const char * restrict symbol"
-.Ft const char *
+.Ft char *
 .Fn dlerror "void"
 .Ft int
 .Fn dlclose "void *handle"
diff --git a/libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.c b/libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.c
index d91dcee51a71..cb1002cd8d03 100644
--- a/libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.c
+++ b/libexec/rtld-elf/rtld.c
@@ -1961,7 +1961,7 @@ dlclose(void *handle)
     return 0;
 }
 
-const char *
+char *
 dlerror(void)
 {
     char *msg = error_message;