Do I need to hack LD_LIBRARY_PATH?

Yes, that would be one way to fix the problem.  But note that you typically have to set it before the script is executed. I.e., setting LD_LIBRARY_PATH from within a BEGIN block may not be enough.  Either set it in a shell wrapper that then execs the Perl script, or re-exec the Perl script from within the BEGIN block (see (tye)Re: programatically setting the LD_LIBRARY_PATH).