diff --git a/GaudiPluginService/CMakeLists.txt b/GaudiPluginService/CMakeLists.txt
index 404e2e2e4b557e19c59dc8c6d0a44cf2fc149235..c8bf19e02e374b85875e16202649ad6b8279cdb6 100644
--- a/GaudiPluginService/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/GaudiPluginService/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ include_directories(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
 #add_library(DD4hepGaudiPluginMgr SHARED src/PluginService.cpp src/capi_pluginservice.cpp interface/DD4hep.cpp)
 add_library(DD4hepGaudiPluginMgr SHARED src/PluginService.cpp interface/DD4hep.cpp)
 add_definitions(-DGaudi=DD4hep_Flavor)
+if( APPLE ) 
+  add_definitions( -DAPPLE) 
+endif()
+
 set (CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11")
 target_link_libraries(DD4hepGaudiPluginMgr ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS})
 SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(DD4hepGaudiPluginMgr PROPERTIES VERSION ${DD4hep_VERSION} SOVERSION ${DD4hep_SOVERSION})
diff --git a/GaudiPluginService/src/PluginService.cpp b/GaudiPluginService/src/PluginService.cpp
index 4337611b7656e4e029edd9b8e900a5446b76a7e4..a865497567e43e66c644d7e701903cbb49eec632 100644
--- a/GaudiPluginService/src/PluginService.cpp
+++ b/GaudiPluginService/src/PluginService.cpp
@@ -148,9 +148,14 @@ namespace Gaudi { namespace PluginService {
 #ifdef WIN32
       const char* envVar = "PATH";
       const char sep = ';';
+#else
+#ifdef APPLE
+      const char* envVar = "DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH";
+      const char sep = ':';
 #else
       const char* envVar = "LD_LIBRARY_PATH";
       const char sep = ':';
+#endif
 #endif
       char *search_path = ::getenv(envVar);
       if (search_path) {
@@ -248,6 +253,14 @@ namespace Gaudi { namespace PluginService {
         entry = facts.insert(std::make_pair(id,
                                             FactoryInfo("unknown", factory,
                                                         type, rtype, className, props))).first;
+#if APPLE
+#define DEBUG_FOR_MAC 1
+#endif
+
+#if DEBUG_FOR_MAC
+	std::cout << " --  registering factory id: " << id << " class : " << className << " with registry " << this << std::endl ;
+#endif
+
       } else {
         // do not replace an existing factory with a new one
         if (!entry->second.ptr) {
diff --git a/GaudiPluginService/src/listcomponents.cpp b/GaudiPluginService/src/listcomponents.cpp
index 733f6a7dd586905b05cd9cb953dc96bcbc86c501..ac547eb46bf702c88cc294602e9e1bb8a0eec09e 100644
--- a/GaudiPluginService/src/listcomponents.cpp
+++ b/GaudiPluginService/src/listcomponents.cpp
@@ -46,6 +46,15 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
       Gaudi::PluginService::Details::Registry::instance();
   typedef Gaudi::PluginService::Details::Registry::KeyType key_type;
 
+#if APPLE
+#define DEBUG_FOR_MAC 1
+#endif
+
+#if DEBUG_FOR_MAC
+  Gaudi::PluginService::SetDebug( 2 ) ;
+#endif
+
+
   // cache to keep track of the loaded factories
   std::map<key_type, std::string> loaded;
   {
@@ -57,6 +66,11 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
     }
   }
 
+#if DEBUG_FOR_MAC
+  std::cout << " --- using registry : " << &reg  << "  --- with " << loaded.size() << " pre-loeaded libraries " << std::endl ;
+#endif
+
+
   // Parse command line
   std::list<char*> libs;
   std::string output_opt("-");
@@ -103,10 +117,15 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
   // loop over the list of libraries passed on the command line
   for (char* lib: libs) {
 
-    if (dlopen(lib, RTLD_LAZY | RTLD_LOCAL)) {
+    if (dlopen(lib, RTLD_LAZY | RTLD_GLOBAL)) {
 
       std::set<key_type> factories = reg.loadedFactories();
       std::set<key_type>::const_iterator f;
+
+#if DEBUG_FOR_MAC
+      std::cout << " --- registry : " << &reg  << "  --- has " << factories.size() << " factories " << std::endl ;
+#endif
+
       for (f = factories.begin(); f != factories.end(); ++f) {
         if (loaded.find(*f) == loaded.end())
         {