diff --git a/base/atomics.jl b/base/atomics.jl
index 278d142f0babc..b9a3289b68944 100644
--- a/base/atomics.jl
+++ b/base/atomics.jl
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 using Core.Intrinsics: llvmcall
 
-import Base: setindex!, getindex, unsafe_convert
-import Base.Sys: ARCH, WORD_SIZE
+import .Base: setindex!, getindex, unsafe_convert
+import .Base.Sys: ARCH, WORD_SIZE
 
 export
     Atomic,
diff --git a/base/broadcast.jl b/base/broadcast.jl
index 8c495c14f8b43..7f00b65530327 100644
--- a/base/broadcast.jl
+++ b/base/broadcast.jl
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 
 module Broadcast
 
-using Base.Cartesian
-using Base: Indices, OneTo, linearindices, tail, to_shape,
+using .Base.Cartesian
+using .Base: Indices, OneTo, linearindices, tail, to_shape,
             _msk_end, unsafe_bitgetindex, bitcache_chunks, bitcache_size, dumpbitcache,
             isoperator, promote_typejoin
-import Base: broadcast, broadcast!
+import .Base: broadcast, broadcast!
 export BroadcastStyle, broadcast_indices, broadcast_similar,
        broadcast_getindex, broadcast_setindex!, dotview, @__dot__
 
diff --git a/base/docs/Docs.jl b/base/docs/Docs.jl
index d524fc0304265..f6b25be7065a5 100644
--- a/base/docs/Docs.jl
+++ b/base/docs/Docs.jl
@@ -60,8 +60,9 @@ function.
 
 include("bindings.jl")
 
-import Base.Meta: quot, isexpr
-import Base: Callable, with_output_color
+import .Base.Meta: quot, isexpr
+import .Base: Callable, with_output_color
+using .Base: RefValue
 import ..CoreDocs: lazy_iterpolate
 
 export doc
@@ -390,7 +391,7 @@ end
 function multidoc(__source__, __module__, meta, ex, define)
     out = Expr(:toplevel)
     str = docexpr(__source__, __module__, lazy_iterpolate(meta), metadata(__source__, __module__, ex, false))
-    ref = Ref{DocStr}()
+    ref = RefValue{DocStr}()
     for (n, arg) in enumerate(ex.args)
         # The first `arg` to be documented needs to also create the docstring for the group.
         # Subsequent `arg`s just need `ref` to be able to find the docstring without having
diff --git a/base/docs/utils.jl b/base/docs/utils.jl
index 4d9b2608839fb..a67d88cc263db 100644
--- a/base/docs/utils.jl
+++ b/base/docs/utils.jl
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 # Text / HTML objects
 
-import Base: print, show, ==, hash
+import .Base: print, show, ==, hash
 
 export HTML, @html_str
 
diff --git a/base/file.jl b/base/file.jl
index 8190268220661..b7e4d3b89c282 100644
--- a/base/file.jl
+++ b/base/file.jl
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ export
     unlink,
     walkdir
 
+import .Base.RefValue
+
 # get and set current directory
 
 """
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ Get the current working directory.
 """
 function pwd()
     b = Vector{UInt8}(uninitialized, 1024)
-    len = Ref{Csize_t}(length(b))
+    len = RefValue{Csize_t}(length(b))
     uv_error(:getcwd, ccall(:uv_cwd, Cint, (Ptr{UInt8}, Ptr{Csize_t}), b, len))
     String(b[1:len[]])
 end
diff --git a/base/filesystem.jl b/base/filesystem.jl
index 053f6ae292a0f..a6aa8bc33a60e 100644
--- a/base/filesystem.jl
+++ b/base/filesystem.jl
@@ -38,14 +38,14 @@ export File,
        S_IRGRP, S_IWGRP, S_IXGRP, S_IRWXG,
        S_IROTH, S_IWOTH, S_IXOTH, S_IRWXO
 
-import Base:
+import .Base:
     UVError, _sizeof_uv_fs, check_open, close, eof, eventloop, fd, isopen,
     bytesavailable, position, read, read!, readavailable, seek, seekend, show,
     skip, stat, unsafe_read, unsafe_write, write, transcode, uv_error,
     rawhandle, OS_HANDLE, INVALID_OS_HANDLE
 
 if Sys.iswindows()
-    import Base: cwstring
+    import .Base: cwstring
 end
 
 include("path.jl")
diff --git a/base/gmp.jl b/base/gmp.jl
index 0048ae5a7c602..62a4fe0dacb8c 100644
--- a/base/gmp.jl
+++ b/base/gmp.jl
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ module GMP
 
 export BigInt
 
-import Base: *, +, -, /, <, <<, >>, >>>, <=, ==, >, >=, ^, (~), (&), (|), xor,
+import .Base: *, +, -, /, <, <<, >>, >>>, <=, ==, >, >=, ^, (~), (&), (|), xor,
              binomial, cmp, convert, div, divrem, factorial, fld, gcd, gcdx, lcm, mod,
              ndigits, promote_rule, rem, show, isqrt, string, powermod,
              sum, trailing_zeros, trailing_ones, count_ones, base, tryparse_internal,
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ module MPZ
 # - a method modifying its input has a "!" appendend to its name, according to Julia's conventions
 # - some convenient methods are added (in addition to the pure MPZ ones), e.g. `add(a, b) = add!(BigInt(), a, b)`
 #   and `add!(x, a) = add!(x, x, a)`.
-using Base.GMP: BigInt, Limb
+using .Base.GMP: BigInt, Limb
 
 const mpz_t = Ref{BigInt}
 const bitcnt_t = Culong
diff --git a/base/locks.jl b/base/locks.jl
index 3cfa467d941fd..94acb61b73e9f 100644
--- a/base/locks.jl
+++ b/base/locks.jl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # This file is a part of Julia. License is MIT: https://julialang.org/license
 
-import Base: _uv_hook_close, unsafe_convert,
+import .Base: _uv_hook_close, unsafe_convert,
     lock, trylock, unlock, islocked
 
 export SpinLock, RecursiveSpinLock, Mutex
diff --git a/base/math.jl b/base/math.jl
index 223ad1ef565e9..fda5b9bfe92a3 100644
--- a/base/math.jl
+++ b/base/math.jl
@@ -15,17 +15,17 @@ export sin, cos, sincos, tan, sinh, cosh, tanh, asin, acos, atan,
        clamp, clamp!, modf, ^, mod2pi, rem2pi,
        beta, lbeta, @evalpoly
 
-import Base: log, exp, sin, cos, tan, sinh, cosh, tanh, asin,
+import .Base: log, exp, sin, cos, tan, sinh, cosh, tanh, asin,
              acos, atan, asinh, acosh, atanh, sqrt, log2, log10,
              max, min, minmax, ^, exp2, muladd, rem,
              exp10, expm1, log1p
 
-using Base: sign_mask, exponent_mask, exponent_one,
+using .Base: sign_mask, exponent_mask, exponent_one,
             exponent_half, uinttype, significand_mask
 
 using Core.Intrinsics: sqrt_llvm
 
-using Base: IEEEFloat
+using .Base: IEEEFloat
 
 @noinline function throw_complex_domainerror(f, x)
     throw(DomainError(x, string("$f will only return a complex result if called with a ",
diff --git a/base/mpfr.jl b/base/mpfr.jl
index 2dcc742069814..edb91c9018589 100644
--- a/base/mpfr.jl
+++ b/base/mpfr.jl
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export
     setprecision
 
 import
-    Base: *, +, -, /, <, <=, ==, >, >=, ^, ceil, cmp, convert, copysign, div,
+    .Base: *, +, -, /, <, <=, ==, >, >=, ^, ceil, cmp, convert, copysign, div,
         inv, exp, exp2, exponent, factorial, floor, fma, hypot, isinteger,
         isfinite, isinf, isnan, ldexp, log, log2, log10, max, min, mod, modf,
         nextfloat, prevfloat, promote_rule, rem, rem2pi, round, show, float,
@@ -17,15 +17,15 @@ import
         cosh, sinh, tanh, sech, csch, coth, acosh, asinh, atanh, atan2,
         cbrt, typemax, typemin, unsafe_trunc, realmin, realmax, rounding,
         setrounding, maxintfloat, widen, significand, frexp, tryparse, iszero,
-        isone, big, beta
+        isone, big, beta, RefValue
 
-import Base.Rounding: rounding_raw, setrounding_raw
+import .Base.Rounding: rounding_raw, setrounding_raw
 
-import Base.GMP: ClongMax, CulongMax, CdoubleMax, Limb
+import .Base.GMP: ClongMax, CulongMax, CdoubleMax, Limb
 
-import Base.Math.lgamma_r
+import .Base.Math.lgamma_r
 
-import Base.FastMath.sincos_fast
+import .Base.FastMath.sincos_fast
 
 version() = VersionNumber(unsafe_string(ccall((:mpfr_get_version,:libmpfr), Ptr{Cchar}, ())))
 patches() = split(unsafe_string(ccall((:mpfr_get_patches,:libmpfr), Ptr{Cchar}, ())),' ')
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ function __init__()
     end
 end
 
-const ROUNDING_MODE = Ref{Cint}(0)
-const DEFAULT_PRECISION = Ref(256)
+const ROUNDING_MODE = RefValue{Cint}(0)
+const DEFAULT_PRECISION = RefValue(256)
 
 # Basic type and initialization definitions
 
diff --git a/base/multidimensional.jl b/base/multidimensional.jl
index 2576140929370..5517f449c0e5c 100644
--- a/base/multidimensional.jl
+++ b/base/multidimensional.jl
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@
 
 ### Multidimensional iterators
 module IteratorsMD
-    import Base: eltype, length, size, start, done, next, first, last, in, getindex,
+    import .Base: eltype, length, size, start, done, next, first, last, in, getindex,
                  setindex!, IndexStyle, min, max, zero, one, isless, eachindex,
                  ndims, IteratorSize, convert, show
 
-    import Base: +, -, *
-    import Base: simd_outer_range, simd_inner_length, simd_index
-    using Base: IndexLinear, IndexCartesian, AbstractCartesianIndex, fill_to_length, tail
-    using Base.Iterators: Reverse
+    import .Base: +, -, *
+    import .Base: simd_outer_range, simd_inner_length, simd_index
+    using .Base: IndexLinear, IndexCartesian, AbstractCartesianIndex, fill_to_length, tail
+    using .Base.Iterators: Reverse
 
     export CartesianIndex, CartesianIndices, LinearIndices
 
diff --git a/base/multimedia.jl b/base/multimedia.jl
index d988d4da2e5db..287d2c347ab31 100644
--- a/base/multimedia.jl
+++ b/base/multimedia.jl
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ export AbstractDisplay, display, pushdisplay, popdisplay, displayable, redisplay
 # defined in sysimg.jl for bootstrapping:
 # struct MIME{mime} end
 # macro MIME_str(s)
-import Base: MIME, @MIME_str
-import Base: show, print, string, convert, repr
+import .Base: MIME, @MIME_str
+import .Base: show, print, string, convert, repr
 MIME(s) = MIME{Symbol(s)}()
 show(io::IO, ::MIME{mime}) where {mime} = print(io, "MIME type ", string(mime))
 print(io::IO, ::MIME{mime}) where {mime} = print(io, mime)
diff --git a/base/path.jl b/base/path.jl
index d2448a083a315..1bb777dd2377d 100644
--- a/base/path.jl
+++ b/base/path.jl
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ Return the current user's home directory.
 function homedir()
     path_max = 1024
     buf = Vector{UInt8}(uninitialized, path_max)
-    sz = Ref{Csize_t}(path_max + 1)
+    sz = RefValue{Csize_t}(path_max + 1)
     while true
         rc = ccall(:uv_os_homedir, Cint, (Ptr{UInt8}, Ptr{Csize_t}), buf, sz)
         if rc == 0
diff --git a/base/pcre.jl b/base/pcre.jl
index 4938ffda38c1c..0fdc486988018 100644
--- a/base/pcre.jl
+++ b/base/pcre.jl
@@ -4,12 +4,14 @@
 
 module PCRE
 
+import ..RefValue
+
 include(string(length(Core.ARGS) >= 2 ? Core.ARGS[2] : "", "pcre_h.jl"))  # include($BUILDROOT/base/pcre_h.jl)
 
 const PCRE_LIB = "libpcre2-8"
 
-const JIT_STACK = Ref{Ptr{Cvoid}}(C_NULL)
-const MATCH_CONTEXT = Ref{Ptr{Cvoid}}(C_NULL)
+const JIT_STACK = RefValue{Ptr{Cvoid}}(C_NULL)
+const MATCH_CONTEXT = RefValue{Ptr{Cvoid}}(C_NULL)
 
 function __init__()
     try
@@ -70,7 +72,7 @@ const OPTIONS_MASK = COMPILE_MASK | EXECUTE_MASK
 const UNSET = ~Csize_t(0)  # Indicates that an output vector element is unset
 
 function info(regex::Ptr{Cvoid}, what::Integer, ::Type{T}) where T
-    buf = Ref{T}()
+    buf = RefValue{T}()
     ret = ccall((:pcre2_pattern_info_8, PCRE_LIB), Int32,
                 (Ptr{Cvoid}, Int32, Ptr{Cvoid}),
                 regex, what, buf)
@@ -92,8 +94,8 @@ function get_ovec(match_data)
 end
 
 function compile(pattern::AbstractString, options::Integer)
-    errno = Ref{Cint}(0)
-    erroff = Ref{Csize_t}(0)
+    errno = RefValue{Cint}(0)
+    erroff = RefValue{Csize_t}(0)
     re_ptr = ccall((:pcre2_compile_8, PCRE_LIB), Ptr{Cvoid},
                    (Ptr{UInt8}, Csize_t, UInt32, Ref{Cint}, Ref{Csize_t}, Ptr{Cvoid}),
                    pattern, sizeof(pattern), options, errno, erroff, C_NULL)
@@ -146,7 +148,7 @@ function substring_number_from_name(re, name)
 end
 
 function substring_length_bynumber(match_data, number)
-    s = Ref{Csize_t}()
+    s = RefValue{Csize_t}()
     rc = ccall((:pcre2_substring_length_bynumber_8, PCRE_LIB), Cint,
           (Ptr{Cvoid}, UInt32, Ref{Csize_t}), match_data, number, s)
     rc < 0 && error("PCRE error: $(err_message(rc))")
@@ -154,7 +156,7 @@ function substring_length_bynumber(match_data, number)
 end
 
 function substring_copy_bynumber(match_data, number, buf, buf_size)
-    s = Ref{Csize_t}(buf_size)
+    s = RefValue{Csize_t}(buf_size)
     rc = ccall((:pcre2_substring_copy_bynumber_8, PCRE_LIB), Cint,
                (Ptr{Cvoid}, UInt32, Ptr{UInt8}, Ref{Csize_t}),
                match_data, number, buf, s)
diff --git a/base/printf.jl b/base/printf.jl
index 8bfefc8e77c11..8bd35d6a9e64b 100644
--- a/base/printf.jl
+++ b/base/printf.jl
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 # This file is a part of Julia. License is MIT: https://julialang.org/license
 
 module Printf
-using Base.Grisu
-using Base.GMP
+using .Base.Grisu
+using .Base.GMP
 
 ### printf formatter generation ###
 const SmallFloatingPoint = Union{Float64,Float32,Float16}
diff --git a/base/refpointer.jl b/base/refpointer.jl
index 8f95c67fc6db7..68200db4061e4 100644
--- a/base/refpointer.jl
+++ b/base/refpointer.jl
@@ -50,14 +50,8 @@ end
 RefValue(x::T) where {T} = RefValue{T}(x)
 isassigned(x::RefValue) = isdefined(x, :x)
 
-Ref(x::Any) = RefValue(x)
-Ref{T}() where {T} = RefValue{T}() # Ref{T}()
-Ref{T}(x) where {T} = RefValue{T}(x) # Ref{T}(x)
 convert(::Type{Ref{T}}, x) where {T} = RefValue{T}(x)
 
-Ref(x::Ref, i::Integer) = (i != 1 && error("Ref only has one element"); x)
-Ref(x::Ptr{T}, i::Integer) where {T} = x + (i - 1) * Core.sizeof(T)
-
 function unsafe_convert(P::Type{Ptr{T}}, b::RefValue{T}) where T
     if datatype_pointerfree(RefValue{T})
         p = pointer_from_objref(b)
@@ -87,7 +81,6 @@ end
 RefArray(x::AbstractArray{T}, i::Int, roots::Any) where {T} = RefArray{T,typeof(x),Any}(x, i, roots)
 RefArray(x::AbstractArray{T}, i::Int=1, roots::Nothing=nothing) where {T} = RefArray{T,typeof(x),Nothing}(x, i, nothing)
 convert(::Type{Ref{T}}, x::AbstractArray{T}) where {T} = RefArray(x, 1)
-Ref(x::AbstractArray, i::Integer) = RefArray(x, i)
 
 function unsafe_convert(P::Type{Ptr{T}}, b::RefArray{T}) where T
     if datatype_pointerfree(RefValue{T})
@@ -105,26 +98,38 @@ function unsafe_convert(P::Type{Ptr{Any}}, b::RefArray{Any})
 end
 unsafe_convert(::Type{Ptr{Cvoid}}, b::RefArray{T}) where {T} = convert(Ptr{Cvoid}, unsafe_convert(Ptr{T}, b))
 
-# convert Arrays to pointer arrays for ccall
-function Ref{P}(a::Array{<:Union{Ptr,Cwstring,Cstring}}) where P<:Union{Ptr,Cwstring,Cstring}
-    return RefArray(a) # effectively a no-op
-end
-function Ref{P}(a::Array{T}) where P<:Union{Ptr,Cwstring,Cstring} where T
-    if (!isbits(T) && T <: eltype(P))
-        # this Array already has the right memory layout for the requested Ref
-        return RefArray(a,1,false) # root something, so that this function is type-stable
-    else
-        ptrs = Vector{P}(uninitialized, length(a)+1)
-        roots = Vector{Any}(uninitialized, length(a))
-        for i = 1:length(a)
-            root = cconvert(P, a[i])
-            ptrs[i] = unsafe_convert(P, root)::P
-            roots[i] = root
+###
+if is_primary_base_module
+    Ref(x::Any) = RefValue(x)
+    Ref{T}() where {T} = RefValue{T}() # Ref{T}()
+    Ref{T}(x) where {T} = RefValue{T}(x) # Ref{T}(x)
+
+    Ref(x::Ref, i::Integer) = (i != 1 && error("Ref only has one element"); x)
+    Ref(x::Ptr{T}, i::Integer) where {T} = x + (i - 1) * Core.sizeof(T)
+
+    # convert Arrays to pointer arrays for ccall
+    function Ref{P}(a::Array{<:Union{Ptr,Cwstring,Cstring}}) where P<:Union{Ptr,Cwstring,Cstring}
+        return RefArray(a) # effectively a no-op
+    end
+    function Ref{P}(a::Array{T}) where P<:Union{Ptr,Cwstring,Cstring} where T
+        if (!isbits(T) && T <: eltype(P))
+            # this Array already has the right memory layout for the requested Ref
+            return RefArray(a,1,false) # root something, so that this function is type-stable
+        else
+            ptrs = Vector{P}(uninitialized, length(a)+1)
+            roots = Vector{Any}(uninitialized, length(a))
+            for i = 1:length(a)
+                root = cconvert(P, a[i])
+                ptrs[i] = unsafe_convert(P, root)::P
+                roots[i] = root
+            end
+            ptrs[length(a)+1] = C_NULL
+            return RefArray(ptrs,1,roots)
         end
-        ptrs[length(a)+1] = C_NULL
-        return RefArray(ptrs,1,roots)
     end
+    Ref(x::AbstractArray, i::Integer) = RefArray(x, i)
 end
+
 cconvert(::Type{Ptr{P}}, a::Array{<:Ptr}) where {P<:Ptr} = a
 cconvert(::Type{Ref{P}}, a::Array{<:Ptr}) where {P<:Ptr} = a
 cconvert(::Type{Ptr{P}}, a::Array) where {P<:Union{Ptr,Cwstring,Cstring}} = Ref{P}(a)
diff --git a/base/sort.jl b/base/sort.jl
index 6030fa70e4334..f56081b982179 100644
--- a/base/sort.jl
+++ b/base/sort.jl
@@ -2,16 +2,16 @@
 
 module Sort
 
-using Base.Order, Base.Checked
-using Base: copymutable, linearindices, IndexStyle, viewindexing, IndexLinear, _length
-
-import
-    Base.sort,
-    Base.sort!,
-    Base.issorted,
-    Base.sortperm,
-    Base.Slice,
-    Base.to_indices
+using .Base.Order, .Base.Checked
+using .Base: copymutable, linearindices, IndexStyle, viewindexing, IndexLinear, _length
+
+import .Base:
+    sort,
+    sort!,
+    issorted,
+    sortperm,
+    Slice,
+    to_indices
 
 export # also exported by Base
     # order-only:
diff --git a/base/special/log.jl b/base/special/log.jl
index e62ddf541705e..1768cbfdd3da3 100644
--- a/base/special/log.jl
+++ b/base/special/log.jl
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 
 # Does not currently handle floating point flags (inexact, div-by-zero, etc).
 
-import Base.unsafe_trunc
-import Base.Math.@horner
+import .Base.unsafe_trunc
+import .Base.Math.@horner
 
 # Float64 lookup table.
 # to generate values:
diff --git a/base/sysimg.jl b/base/sysimg.jl
index 14fb16fcb42eb..f5431ba8e19dc 100644
--- a/base/sysimg.jl
+++ b/base/sysimg.jl
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 baremodule Base
 
 using Core.Intrinsics, Core.IR
-ccall(:jl_set_istopmod, Cvoid, (Any, Bool), Base, true)
+
+const is_primary_base_module = ccall(:jl_module_parent, Ref{Module}, (Any,), Base) === Core.Main
+ccall(:jl_set_istopmod, Cvoid, (Any, Bool), Base, is_primary_base_module)
 
 getproperty(x, f::Symbol) = getfield(x, f)
 setproperty!(x, f::Symbol, v) = setfield!(x, f, convert(fieldtype(typeof(x), f), v))
@@ -471,10 +473,13 @@ include("docs/basedocs.jl")
 # Documentation -- should always be included last in sysimg.
 include("docs/Docs.jl")
 using .Docs
-isdefined(Core, :Compiler) && Docs.loaddocs(Core.Compiler.CoreDocs.DOCS)
+if isdefined(Core, :Compiler) && is_primary_base_module
+    Docs.loaddocs(Core.Compiler.CoreDocs.DOCS)
+end
 
 end_base_include = time_ns()
 
+if is_primary_base_module
 function __init__()
     # for the few uses of Crand in Base:
     Csrand()
@@ -490,15 +495,19 @@ function __init__()
 end
 
 INCLUDE_STATE = 3 # include = include_relative
-const tot_time_stdlib = Ref(0.0)
+end
+
+const tot_time_stdlib = RefValue(0.0)
+
 end # baremodule Base
 
-using Base
+using .Base
 
 
 # Ensure this file is also tracked
 pushfirst!(Base._included_files, (@__MODULE__, joinpath(@__DIR__, "sysimg.jl")))
 
+if Base.is_primary_base_module
 # load some stdlib packages but don't put their names in Main
 let
     # Stdlibs manually sorted in top down order
@@ -880,15 +889,16 @@ end
     @eval @deprecate_stdlib $(Symbol("@code_llvm"))     InteractiveUtils true
     @eval @deprecate_stdlib $(Symbol("@code_native"))   InteractiveUtils true
 end
+end
 
 empty!(DEPOT_PATH)
 empty!(LOAD_PATH)
 
 let
 tot_time_userimg = @elapsed (Base.isfile("userimg.jl") && Base.include(Main, "userimg.jl"))
-tot_time_precompile = @elapsed Base.include(Base, "precompile.jl")
+tot_time_precompile = Base.is_primary_base_module ? (@elapsed Base.include(Base, "precompile.jl")) : 0.0
 
-tot_time_base = (Base.end_base_include - Base.start_base_include) * 10^(-9)
+tot_time_base = (Base.end_base_include - Base.start_base_include) * 10.0^(-9)
 tot_time = tot_time_base + Base.tot_time_stdlib[] + tot_time_userimg + tot_time_precompile
 
 println("Sysimage built. Summary:")
diff --git a/src/toplevel.c b/src/toplevel.c
index 9ae75a9c8ca6b..f718d2df401fd 100644
--- a/src/toplevel.c
+++ b/src/toplevel.c
@@ -35,9 +35,10 @@ jl_module_t *jl_internal_main_module = NULL;
 
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_add_standard_imports(jl_module_t *m)
 {
-    assert(jl_base_module != NULL);
+    jl_module_t *base_module = jl_base_relative_to(m);
+    assert(base_module != NULL);
     // using Base
-    jl_module_using(m, jl_base_module);
+    jl_module_using(m, base_module);
 }
 
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_module_t *jl_new_main_module(void)