diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index bb120eb5e..9338b569f 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ Misc:
  - DS Core: Add symbol loading
  - DS Video: Simplify VRAM mapping
  - DS GX: Reject and log polygons that clip to more than 10 vertices
+ - DS Core: Backport symbol loading changes from GBA core (fixes mgba.io/i/1834)
 
 0.9.0: (Future)
 Features:
diff --git a/src/ds/core.c b/src/ds/core.c
index 027688af9..4ae73e3d5 100644
--- a/src/ds/core.c
+++ b/src/ds/core.c
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ static bool _DSCoreInit(struct mCore* core) {
 	core->board = ds;
 	core->timing = &ds->ds9.timing;
 	core->debugger = NULL;
+	core->symbolTable = NULL;
 	dscore->arm7 = arm7;
 	dscore->arm9 = arm9;
 	dscore->debuggerPlatform = NULL;
@@ -596,27 +597,38 @@ static void _DSCoreDetachDebugger(struct mCore* core) {
 }
 
 static void _DSCoreLoadSymbols(struct mCore* core, struct VFile* vf) {
-#ifdef USE_ELF
 	bool closeAfter = false;
 	core->symbolTable = mDebuggerSymbolTableCreate();
 #if !defined(MINIMAL_CORE) || MINIMAL_CORE < 2
+#ifdef USE_ELF
 	if (!vf) {
 		closeAfter = true;
 		vf = mDirectorySetOpenSuffix(&core->dirs, core->dirs.base, ".elf", O_RDONLY);
 	}
+#endif
+	if (!vf) {
+		closeAfter = true;
+		vf = mDirectorySetOpenSuffix(&core->dirs, core->dirs.base, ".sym", O_RDONLY);
+	}
 #endif
 	if (!vf) {
 		return;
 	}
+#ifdef USE_ELF
 	struct ELF* elf = ELFOpen(vf);
 	if (elf) {
+#ifdef USE_DEBUGGERS
 		mCoreLoadELFSymbols(core->symbolTable, elf);
+#endif
 		ELFClose(elf);
+	} else
+#endif
+	{
+		mDebuggerLoadARMIPSSymbols(core->symbolTable, vf);
 	}
 	if (closeAfter) {
 		vf->close(vf);
 	}
-#endif
 }
 
 static bool _DSCoreLookupIdentifier(struct mCore* core, const char* name, int32_t* value, int* segment) {