diff --git a/daemons/ganeti-noded b/daemons/ganeti-noded
index 881e4dd2b06fc1f21d9bf469106d170767889ab0..732d681caf7ae12da474ec96f9ce786d9a8f63a2 100755
--- a/daemons/ganeti-noded
+++ b/daemons/ganeti-noded
@@ -917,8 +917,12 @@ def ExecNoded(options, _):
 
   """
   if options.mlock:
-    utils.Mlockall()
     request_executor_class = MlockallRequestExecutor
+    try:
+      utils.Mlockall()
+    except errors.NoCtypesError:
+      logging.warning("Cannot set memory lock, ctypes module not found")
+      request_executor_class = http.server.HttpServerRequestExecutor
   else:
     request_executor_class = http.server.HttpServerRequestExecutor
 
diff --git a/lib/errors.py b/lib/errors.py
index 47dae62e2cbac787bacda1f15c779d4d8675c2bc..8618be2be33d876aaf58a21e7e429b5218c492c1 100644
--- a/lib/errors.py
+++ b/lib/errors.py
@@ -342,6 +342,12 @@ class UdpDataSizeError(GenericError):
   """
 
 
+class NoCtypesError(GenericError):
+  """python ctypes module is not found in the system.
+
+  """
+
+
 # errors should be added above
 
 
diff --git a/lib/utils.py b/lib/utils.py
index 0976c40cee5bf492d88bcaadf5b183ba3f27d141..4a3dd9fa6c53bb04f600afca9b45c4b8373a45dd 100644
--- a/lib/utils.py
+++ b/lib/utils.py
@@ -2260,18 +2260,19 @@ def CloseFDs(noclose_fds=None):
     _CloseFDNoErr(fd)
 
 
-def Mlockall():
+def Mlockall(_ctypes=ctypes):
   """Lock current process' virtual address space into RAM.
 
   This is equivalent to the C call mlockall(MCL_CURRENT|MCL_FUTURE),
   see mlock(2) for more details. This function requires ctypes module.
 
+  @raises errors.NoCtypesError: if ctypes module is not found
+
   """
-  if ctypes is None:
-    logging.warning("Cannot set memory lock, ctypes module not found")
-    return
+  if _ctypes is None:
+    raise errors.NoCtypesError()
 
-  libc = ctypes.cdll.LoadLibrary("libc.so.6")
+  libc = _ctypes.cdll.LoadLibrary("libc.so.6")
   if libc is None:
     logging.error("Cannot set memory lock, ctypes cannot load libc")
     return
@@ -2282,7 +2283,7 @@ def Mlockall():
   # its value correctly, should the mlockall call fail, in order to see what
   # the actual error code was.
   # pylint: disable-msg=W0212
-  libc.__errno_location.restype = ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_int)
+  libc.__errno_location.restype = _ctypes.POINTER(_ctypes.c_int)
 
   if libc.mlockall(_MCL_CURRENT | _MCL_FUTURE):
     # pylint: disable-msg=W0212
diff --git a/test/ganeti.utils_mlockall_unittest.py b/test/ganeti.utils_mlockall_unittest.py
index 654d518a537145b427499e10b9d632d405f80276..17726b7cbc8a4bf01451c7ff52ed7a3e4e9e54f3 100755
--- a/test/ganeti.utils_mlockall_unittest.py
+++ b/test/ganeti.utils_mlockall_unittest.py
@@ -28,13 +28,28 @@ This test is run in a separate process because it changes memory behaviour.
 import unittest
 
 from ganeti import utils
+from ganeti import errors
 
 import testutils
 
 
-class TestResetTempfileModule(unittest.TestCase):
+class TestMlockallWithCtypes(unittest.TestCase):
+  """Whether Mlockall() works if ctypes is present.
+
+  """
+
+  def test(self):
+    if utils.ctypes:
+      utils.Mlockall()
+
+
+class TestMlockallWithNoCtypes(unittest.TestCase):
+  """Whether Mlockall() raises an error if ctypes is not present.
+
+  """
+
   def test(self):
-    utils.Mlockall()
+    self.assertRaises(errors.NoCtypesError, utils.Mlockall, _ctypes=None)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":