diff --git a/src/solaris/classes/sun/net/NetHooks.java b/src/solaris/classes/sun/net/NetHooks.java
index f847934190c4231e59a0628b964e5a0a718c837c..4dda5cab9b6866cf8da9bd0392baf82645d62422 100644
--- a/src/solaris/classes/sun/net/NetHooks.java
+++ b/src/solaris/classes/sun/net/NetHooks.java
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ public final class NetHooks {
                     try {
                         c = (Class<Provider>)Class.forName(cn, true, null);
                     } catch (ClassNotFoundException x) {
-                        throw new AssertionError(x);
+                        return null;
                     }
                     try {
                         return c.newInstance();