diff --git a/glib/adbc-glib/database.c b/glib/adbc-glib/database.c
index 886b3474bb..0c86443d07 100644
--- a/glib/adbc-glib/database.c
+++ b/glib/adbc-glib/database.c
@@ -75,6 +75,12 @@ GADBCDatabase* gadbc_database_new(GError** error) {
   AdbcStatusCode status_code = AdbcDatabaseNew(&(priv->adbc_database), &adbc_error);
   priv->initialized =
       gadbc_error_check(error, status_code, &adbc_error, "[adbc][database][new]");
+  if (priv->initialized) {
+    status_code = AdbcDriverManagerDatabaseSetLoadFlags(
+        &(priv->adbc_database), GADBC_LOAD_FLAGS_DEFAULT, &adbc_error);
+    priv->initialized = gadbc_error_check(error, status_code, &adbc_error,
+                                          "[adbc][database][set-load-flags]");
+  }
   if (!priv->initialized) {
     g_object_unref(database);
     return NULL;
diff --git a/glib/adbc-glib/database.h b/glib/adbc-glib/database.h
index 5f510b3463..1c04649874 100644
--- a/glib/adbc-glib/database.h
+++ b/glib/adbc-glib/database.h
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ typedef enum {
 } GADBCLoadFlags;
 
 /**
- * GADBC_LOAD_FLAGAS_DEFAULT:
+ * GADBC_LOAD_FLAGS_DEFAULT:
  *
  * The default GADBCLoadFlags.
  *
diff --git a/ruby/lib/adbc/database.rb b/ruby/lib/adbc/database.rb
index 15e6abfbc5..60e715d550 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/adbc/database.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/adbc/database.rb
@@ -18,13 +18,14 @@
 module ADBC
   class Database
     class << self
-      def open(**options)
+      def open(load_flags: nil, **options)
         database = new
         need_release = true
         begin
           options.each do |key, value|
             database.set_option(key, value)
           end
+          database.set_load_flags(load_flags) unless load_flags.nil?
           database.init
           if block_given?
             yield(database)
diff --git a/ruby/test/test-database.rb b/ruby/test/test-database.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..19d9ad009f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ruby/test/test-database.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+class DatabaseTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  sub_test_case(".open") do
+    sub_test_case("manifest") do
+      def setup
+        Dir.mktmpdir do |tmpdir|
+          File.write(File.join(tmpdir, "testdriver.toml"), <<~TOML)
+            name = "test driver"
+            version = "0.1.0"
+
+            [Driver]
+            shared = "adbc_driver_sqlite"
+          TOML
+          driver_path, ENV["ADBC_DRIVER_PATH"] = ENV["ADBC_DRIVER_PATH"], tmpdir
+          begin
+            yield
+          ensure
+            ENV["ADBC_DRIVER_PATH"] = driver_path
+          end
+        end
+      end
+
+      def test_search_env_finds_driver
+        ADBC::Database.open(driver: "testdriver",
+                            uri: ":memory:",
+                            load_flags: :search_env) do |database|
+          database.connect do |connection|
+              assert_equal([
+                              Arrow::Table.new("1" => Arrow::Int64Array.new([1])),
+                              -1,
+                           ],
+                           connection.query("SELECT 1"))
+          end
+        end
+      end
+
+      def test_no_flags_cannot_find_driver
+        assert_raise(ADBC::Error::NotFound) do
+          ADBC::Database.open(driver: "testdriver",
+                              uri: ":memory:",
+                              load_flags: 0) do |_database|
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end