diff --git a/src/environment.rs b/src/environment.rs
index 3fc4229..e791ea9 100644
--- a/src/environment.rs
+++ b/src/environment.rs
@@ -434,7 +434,8 @@ impl PySubGlobalsBuilder {
 }
 
 #[pyclass(module = "xingque", name = "FrozenModule")]
-pub(crate) struct PyFrozenModule(FrozenModule);
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub(crate) struct PyFrozenModule(pub(crate) FrozenModule);
 
 impl From<FrozenModule> for PyFrozenModule {
     fn from(value: FrozenModule) -> Self {
diff --git a/src/eval.rs b/src/eval.rs
index d1da174..88c5dfa 100644
--- a/src/eval.rs
+++ b/src/eval.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
+use anyhow::anyhow;
 use pyo3::exceptions::PyRuntimeError;
+use pyo3::intern;
 use pyo3::prelude::*;
 use pyo3::types::{PyDict, PyTuple};
-use starlark::environment::Module;
-use starlark::eval::Evaluator;
+use starlark::environment::{FrozenModule, Module};
+use starlark::eval::{Evaluator, FileLoader};
 
 use crate::codemap::PyFileSpan;
-use crate::environment::{PyGlobals, PyModule};
+use crate::environment::{PyFrozenModule, PyGlobals, PyModule};
 use crate::syntax::PyAstModule;
 use crate::{py2sl, sl2py};
 
@@ -17,6 +19,7 @@ pub(crate) struct PyEvaluator(
     Evaluator<'static, 'static>,
     // this reference is necessary for memory safety
     #[allow(dead_code)] Py<PyModule>,
+    PyObjectFileLoader,
 );
 
 impl PyEvaluator {
@@ -25,7 +28,11 @@ impl PyEvaluator {
         let module = module.borrow();
         let module = module.inner()?;
         let module: &'static Module = unsafe { ::core::mem::transmute(module) };
-        Ok(Self(Evaluator::new(module), module_ref))
+        Ok(Self(
+            Evaluator::new(module),
+            module_ref,
+            PyObjectFileLoader::default(),
+        ))
     }
 
     fn ensure_module_available(&self, py: Python) -> PyResult<()> {
@@ -83,7 +90,17 @@ impl PyEvaluator {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    // TODO: set_loader
+    fn set_loader(&mut self, py: Python, loader: &Bound<'_, PyAny>) -> PyResult<()> {
+        self.ensure_module_available(py)?;
+        self.2.set(loader.as_unbound().clone());
+        let ptr: &'_ dyn FileLoader = &self.2;
+        // Safety: actually the wrapper object and the evaluator are identically
+        // scoped
+        let ptr: &'static dyn FileLoader = unsafe { ::core::mem::transmute(ptr) };
+        self.0.set_loader(ptr);
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     // TODO: enable_profile
     // TODO: write_profile
     // TODO: gen_profile
@@ -174,3 +191,74 @@ impl PyEvaluator {
         }
     }
 }
+
+// it would be good if https://github.com/PyO3/pyo3/issues/1190 is implemented
+// so we could have stronger typing
+// but currently duck-typing isn't bad anyway
+// this is why we don't declare this as a pyclass right now
+#[derive(Debug, Default)]
+pub(crate) struct PyObjectFileLoader(Option<PyObject>);
+
+impl PyObjectFileLoader {
+    fn set(&mut self, obj: PyObject) {
+        self.0 = Some(obj);
+    }
+}
+
+impl FileLoader for PyObjectFileLoader {
+    fn load(&self, path: &str) -> anyhow::Result<FrozenModule> {
+        if let Some(inner) = self.0.as_ref() {
+            Python::with_gil(|py| {
+                // first check if it's a PyDictFileLoader and forward to its impl
+                if let Ok(x) = inner.downcast_bound::<PyDictFileLoader>(py) {
+                    return x.borrow().load(path);
+                }
+
+                // duck-typing
+                // call the wrapped PyObject's "load" method with the path
+                // and expect the return value to be exactly PyFrozenModule
+                let name = intern!(py, "load");
+                let args = PyTuple::new_bound(py, &[path]);
+                Ok(inner
+                    .call_method_bound(py, name, args, None)?
+                    .extract::<PyFrozenModule>(py)?
+                    .0)
+            })
+        } else {
+            // this should never happen because we control the only place where
+            // this struct could possibly get instantiated, and a PyObject is
+            // guaranteed there (remember None is also a non-null PyObject)
+            unreachable!()
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// a PyDict is wrapped here instead of the ReturnFileLoader (so we effectively
+// don't wrap ReturnFileLoader but provide equivalent functionality that's
+// idiomatic in Python), because unfortunately ReturnFileLoader has a lifetime
+// parameter, but luckily it's basically just a reference to a HashMap and its
+// logic is trivial.
+#[pyclass(module = "xingque", name = "DictFileLoader")]
+pub(crate) struct PyDictFileLoader(Py<PyDict>);
+
+#[pymethods]
+impl PyDictFileLoader {
+    #[new]
+    fn py_new(modules: Py<PyDict>) -> Self {
+        Self(modules)
+    }
+}
+
+impl FileLoader for PyDictFileLoader {
+    fn load(&self, path: &str) -> anyhow::Result<FrozenModule> {
+        let result: anyhow::Result<_> =
+            Python::with_gil(|py| match self.0.bind(py).get_item(path)? {
+                Some(v) => Ok(Some(v.extract::<PyFrozenModule>()?)),
+                None => Ok(None),
+            });
+        result?.map(|x| x.0).ok_or(anyhow!(
+            "DictFileLoader does not know the module `{}`",
+            path
+        ))
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 002f849..77b6af2 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ fn xingque(m: &Bound<'_, PyModule>) -> PyResult<()> {
     m.add_class::<environment::PyGlobalsBuilder>()?;
     m.add_class::<environment::PyLibraryExtension>()?;
     m.add_class::<environment::PyModule>()?;
+    m.add_class::<eval::PyDictFileLoader>()?;
     m.add_class::<eval::PyEvaluator>()?;
     m.add_class::<syntax::PyAstModule>()?;
     m.add_class::<syntax::PyDialect>()?;
diff --git a/tests/test_smoke.py b/tests/test_smoke.py
index c53130a..6042504 100644
--- a/tests/test_smoke.py
+++ b/tests/test_smoke.py
@@ -23,3 +23,38 @@ def square(x):
     # TODO: wrap the "function" type somehow
     # sq = e.module.get('square')
     # assert e.eval_function(sq, 12) == 144
+
+
+def test_load_stmt():
+    """The original starlark-rust example "Enable the `load` statement" ported
+    to Python."""
+
+    def get_source(file: str) -> str:
+        match file:
+            case "a.star":
+                return "a = 7"
+            case "b.star":
+                return "b = 6"
+            case _:
+                return """
+load('a.star', 'a')
+load('b.star', 'b')
+ab = a * b
+"""
+
+    def get_module(file: str) -> xingque.FrozenModule:
+        ast = xingque.AstModule.parse(file, get_source(file), xingque.Dialect.STANDARD)
+        modules = {}
+        for load in ast.loads:
+            modules[load.module_id] = get_module(load.module_id)
+        loader = xingque.DictFileLoader(modules)
+
+        globals = xingque.Globals.standard()
+        module = xingque.Module()
+        eval = xingque.Evaluator(module)
+        eval.set_loader(loader)
+        eval.eval_module(ast, globals)
+        return module.freeze()
+
+    ab = get_module("ab.star")
+    assert ab.get("ab") == 42
diff --git a/xingque.pyi b/xingque.pyi
index 3ffb04b..9cda1c0 100644
--- a/xingque.pyi
+++ b/xingque.pyi
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from typing import Callable, Iterable, Iterator, Self
+from typing import Callable, Iterable, Iterator, Protocol, Self
 
 # starlark::codemap
 
@@ -196,6 +196,13 @@ class Module:
 
 # starlark::eval
 
+class _FileLoader(Protocol):
+    def load(self, path: str) -> FrozenModule: ...
+
+class DictFileLoader:
+    def __init__(self, modules: dict[str, FrozenModule]) -> None: ...
+    def load(self, path: str) -> FrozenModule: ...
+
 class Evaluator:
     def __init__(self, module: Module | None = None) -> None: ...
     # TODO: disable_gc
@@ -203,7 +210,7 @@ class Evaluator:
     def local_variables(self) -> dict[str, object]: ...
     def verbose_gc(self) -> None: ...
     def enable_static_typechecking(self, enable: bool) -> None: ...
-    # TODO: set_loader
+    def set_loader(self, loader: _FileLoader) -> None: ...
     # TODO: enable_profile
     # TODO: write_profile
     # TODO: gen_profile