diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultComponentsRegistry.kt b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultComponentsRegistry.kt
index 131804140ee901..2cf0b6908e4936 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultComponentsRegistry.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultComponentsRegistry.kt
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ private constructor(componentFactory: ComponentFactory) {
 
   @DoNotStrip private external fun initHybrid(componentFactory: ComponentFactory): HybridData
 
+  init {
+    DefaultSoLoader.maybeLoadSoLibrary()
+  }
+
   companion object {
     @JvmStatic
     @DoNotStrip
diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultNewArchitectureEntryPoint.kt b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultNewArchitectureEntryPoint.kt
index fa6ff875dda211..ca6cf331a103d4 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultNewArchitectureEntryPoint.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultNewArchitectureEntryPoint.kt
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 package com.facebook.react.defaults
 
 import com.facebook.react.config.ReactFeatureFlags
-import com.facebook.soloader.SoLoader
 
 /**
  * A utility class that serves as an entry point for users setup the New Architecture.
@@ -27,8 +26,7 @@ object DefaultNewArchitectureEntryPoint {
   fun load(
       turboModulesEnabled: Boolean = true,
       fabricEnabled: Boolean = true,
-      bridgelessEnabled: Boolean = false,
-      dynamicLibraryName: String = "appmodules",
+      bridgelessEnabled: Boolean = false
   ) {
     ReactFeatureFlags.useTurboModules = turboModulesEnabled
     ReactFeatureFlags.enableFabricRenderer = fabricEnabled
@@ -42,8 +40,7 @@ object DefaultNewArchitectureEntryPoint {
     this.privateConcurrentReactEnabled = fabricEnabled
     this.privateBridgelessEnabled = bridgelessEnabled
 
-    SoLoader.loadLibrary("react_newarchdefaults")
-    SoLoader.loadLibrary(dynamicLibraryName)
+    DefaultSoLoader.maybeLoadSoLibrary()
   }
 
   @Deprecated(
@@ -56,9 +53,8 @@ object DefaultNewArchitectureEntryPoint {
       fabricEnabled: Boolean = true,
       bridgelessEnabled: Boolean = false,
       @Suppress("UNUSED_PARAMETER") concurrentReactEnabled: Boolean = true,
-      dynamicLibraryName: String = "appmodules",
   ) {
-    load(turboModulesEnabled, fabricEnabled, bridgelessEnabled, dynamicLibraryName)
+    load(turboModulesEnabled, fabricEnabled, bridgelessEnabled)
   }
 
   private var privateFabricEnabled: Boolean = false
diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultSoLoader.kt b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultSoLoader.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..99c9ebdf4f0b44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultSoLoader.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+package com.facebook.react.defaults
+
+import com.facebook.soloader.SoLoader
+import com.facebook.soloader.SoLoaderDSONotFoundError
+
+internal class DefaultSoLoader {
+  companion object {
+    @Synchronized
+    @JvmStatic
+    fun maybeLoadSoLibrary() {
+      SoLoader.loadLibrary("react_newarchdefaults")
+      try {
+        SoLoader.loadLibrary("appmodules")
+      } catch (e: SoLoaderDSONotFoundError) {
+        // ignore: DefaultTurboModuleManagerDelegate is still used in apps that don't have
+        // appmodules.so
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultTurboModuleManagerDelegate.kt b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultTurboModuleManagerDelegate.kt
index ac1fd1a4c7d90c..9ea51d49f4f2a3 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultTurboModuleManagerDelegate.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/defaults/DefaultTurboModuleManagerDelegate.kt
@@ -30,4 +30,8 @@ private constructor(context: ReactApplicationContext, packages: List<ReactPackag
     override fun build(context: ReactApplicationContext, packages: List<ReactPackage>) =
         DefaultTurboModuleManagerDelegate(context, packages)
   }
+
+  override fun maybeLoadOtherSoLibraries() {
+    DefaultSoLoader.maybeLoadSoLibrary()
+  }
 }