diff --git a/can/interfaces/vector/canlib.py b/can/interfaces/vector/canlib.py
index 797539c88..a6d8fb84b 100644
--- a/can/interfaces/vector/canlib.py
+++ b/can/interfaces/vector/canlib.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 xldriver: Optional[ModuleType] = None
 try:
     from . import xldriver
-except Exception as exc:
+except FileNotFoundError as exc:
     LOG.warning("Could not import vxlapi: %s", exc)
 
 WaitForSingleObject: Optional[Callable[[int, int], int]]
diff --git a/can/interfaces/vector/xldriver.py b/can/interfaces/vector/xldriver.py
index 2af90c728..faed23b36 100644
--- a/can/interfaces/vector/xldriver.py
+++ b/can/interfaces/vector/xldriver.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import ctypes
 import logging
 import platform
+from ctypes.util import find_library
 
 from . import xlclass
 from .exceptions import VectorInitializationError, VectorOperationError
@@ -16,8 +17,10 @@
 
 # Load Windows DLL
 DLL_NAME = "vxlapi64" if platform.architecture()[0] == "64bit" else "vxlapi"
-_xlapi_dll = ctypes.windll.LoadLibrary(DLL_NAME)
-
+if dll_path := find_library(DLL_NAME):
+    _xlapi_dll = ctypes.windll.LoadLibrary(dll_path)
+else:
+    raise FileNotFoundError(f"Vector XL library not found: {DLL_NAME}")
 
 # ctypes wrapping for API functions
 xlGetErrorString = _xlapi_dll.xlGetErrorString