ollama - 💡(How to fix) Fix Apple M4 /Silicon v0.17.7 - MLX symbol load failure on macOS (mlx_array_item_float16_) during CLI initialization [6 comments, 6 participants]

Mar 6 2026 02:05:57 - ERROR - generated.c:2302 - CHECK failed: mlx_array_item_float16_ ERROR Failed to load MLX dynamic library symbols path=/Applications/Ollama.app/Contents/Resources/libmlxc.dylib WARN MLX dynamic library not available error="failed to load MLX dynamic library (searched: [/Applications/Ollama.app/Contents/Resources /build/lib/ollama])"

Fix Plan

The fix involves updating the MLX C library to match the Ollama version.

• Update the libmlxc.dylib to the version compatible with Ollama v0.17.7.
• Ensure the dynamic library path is correctly set.

Steps

1. Download the compatible MLX C library: Download the libmlxc.dylib file from the official repository or the Ollama installation package that matches the version of Ollama (v0.17.7).
2. Replace the existing library: Replace the existing libmlxc.dylib file located in /Applications/Ollama.app/Contents/Resources with the downloaded one.
3. Update the dynamic library path: Ensure the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable includes the path to the libmlxc.dylib file.

export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH:/Applications/Ollama.app/Contents/Resources

4. **Verify the library load**:
   Use the `otool` command to verify that the `libmlxc.dylib` file is loaded correctly and the `mlx_array_item_float16_` symbol is exported.
   ```bash
otool -L /Applications/Ollama.app/Contents/Resources/libmlxc.dylib

Code Example

To verify the fix, run the following command:

ollama --version

This should return the version without any errors related to loading the MLX dynamic library.

Verification

After applying the fix, the ollama --version command should execute without errors, indicating that the MLX dynamic library is loaded correctly.

Extra Tips

• Ensure that the libmlxc.dylib file is compatible with the Ollama version to avoid symbol mismatch issues.
• If the issue persists, try resetting the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable and re-applying the fix.