diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 6a5ba22..a0c9fb3 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # pkgload (development version)
 
+* Fix handling of active bindings inside a package during unloading (#255, @klmr).
+
+
 # pkgload 1.3.3
 
 * pkgload now depends unconditionally on pkgbuild (#249).
diff --git a/R/namespace-env.R b/R/namespace-env.R
index 0cec5da..1636a5b 100644
--- a/R/namespace-env.R
+++ b/R/namespace-env.R
@@ -234,7 +234,12 @@ unregister_namespace <- function(name = NULL) {
   # unloaded, it might lead to decompress errors if unloaded or to
   # inconsistencies if reloaded (the bindings are resolved in the new
   # namespace).
-  eapply(ns_env(name), force, all.names = TRUE)
+  #
+  # We take precautions not to trigger active bindings in case these
+  # have side effects such as throwing an error.
+  ns <- ns_env(name)
+  active_bindings <- env_binding_are_active(ns)
+  env_get_list(ns, names(active_bindings)[!active_bindings])
 
   # Remove the item from the registry
   env_unbind(ns_registry_env(), name)
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-load.R b/tests/testthat/test-load.R
index b0e657d..eecbc84 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-load.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-load.R
@@ -76,6 +76,12 @@ test_that("unloading or reloading forces bindings", {
   )
 })
 
+test_that("unloading or reloading does not call active bindings", {
+  on.exit(unload("testActiveBindings"))
+
+  expect_no_error(load_all(test_path("testActiveBindings")))
+})
+
 test_that("reloading a package unloads deleted S3 methods", {
   x <- structure(list(), class = "pkgload_foobar")
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/DESCRIPTION b/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/DESCRIPTION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e064a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/DESCRIPTION
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+Package: testActiveBindings
+Title: Test package with active bindings
+License: MIT
+Author: Konrad Rudolph <konrad.rudolph@gmail.com>
+Maintainer: Konrad Rudolph <konrad.rudolph@gmail.com>
+Version: 1.0
diff --git a/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/NAMESPACE b/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/NAMESPACE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..449a7e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/NAMESPACE
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+
+export(bar)
diff --git a/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/R/bindings.r b/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/R/bindings.r
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9eedea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/testActiveBindings/R/bindings.r
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+
+makeActiveBinding("foo", function() rlang::abort("foo"), environment())
+
+#' @export
+makeActiveBinding("bar", function() rlang::abort("bar"), environment())