diff --git a/lib/puppet/string/string_collection.rb b/lib/puppet/string/string_collection.rb
index 45a192703..f8fa38b9c 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/string/string_collection.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/string/string_collection.rb
@@ -1,76 +1,77 @@
 require 'puppet/string'
 
 module Puppet::String::StringCollection
   SEMVER_VERSION = /^(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)([A-Za-z][0-9A-Za-z-]*|)$/
 
   @strings = Hash.new { |hash, key| hash[key] = {} }
 
   def self.strings
     unless @loaded
       @loaded = true
       $LOAD_PATH.each do |dir|
         next unless FileTest.directory?(dir)
         Dir.chdir(dir) do
           Dir.glob("puppet/string/v*/*.rb").collect { |f| f.sub(/\.rb/, '') }.each do |file|
             iname = file.sub(/\.rb/, '')
             begin
               require iname
             rescue Exception => detail
               puts detail.backtrace if Puppet[:trace]
               raise "Could not load #{iname} from #{dir}/#{file}: #{detail}"
             end
           end
         end
       end
     end
     return @strings.keys
   end
 
   def self.validate_version(version)
     !!(SEMVER_VERSION =~ version.to_s)
   end
 
   def self.[](name, version)
     @strings[underscorize(name)][version] if string?(name, version)
   end
 
   def self.string?(name, version)
     name = underscorize(name)
     cache = @strings[name]
     return true if cache.has_key?(version)
 
     loaded = cache.keys
 
-    files = ["puppet/string/#{name}"]
+    module_names = ["puppet/string/#{name}"]
     unless version == :current
-      files << "#{name}@#{version}/puppet/string/#{name}"
+      module_names << "#{name}@#{version}/puppet/string/#{name}"
     end
 
-    files.each do |file|
+    module_names.each do |module_name|
       begin
-        require file
-        if version == :current || !file.include?('@')
+        require module_name
+        if version == :current || !module_name.include?('@')
           loaded = (cache.keys - loaded).first
           cache[:current] = cache[loaded] unless loaded.nil?
         end
         return true if cache.has_key?(version)
-      rescue LoadError
+      rescue LoadError => e
+        raise unless e.message =~ /-- #{module_name}$/
         # pass
       end
     end
 
     return false
   end
 
   def self.register(string)
     @strings[underscorize(string.name)][string.version] = string
   end
 
   def self.underscorize(name)
     unless name.to_s =~ /^[-_a-z]+$/i then
       raise ArgumentError, "#{name.inspect} (#{name.class}) is not a valid string name"
     end
 
     name.to_s.downcase.split(/[-_]/).join('_').to_sym
   end
 end