diff --git a/debug/private/make-variable-like-transformer.rkt b/debug/private/make-variable-like-transformer.rkt
index 0bafa6f..11a78e0 100644
--- a/debug/private/make-variable-like-transformer.rkt
+++ b/debug/private/make-variable-like-transformer.rkt
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@
 (provide make-variable-like-transformer)
 
 (define make-variable-like-transformer
-  (if (module-declared? 'syntax/transformer)
-      (dynamic-require 'syntax/transformer 'make-variable-like-transformer)
-      (dynamic-require 'unstable/syntax 'make-variable-like-transformer)))
+  (with-handlers
+    ([exn:fail:filesystem:missing-module?
+      (λ (e)
+        (dynamic-require 'unstable/syntax
+                         'make-variable-like-transformer))])
+  (dynamic-require 'syntax/transformer
+                   'make-variable-like-transformer)))