We show that for any $d\ge 2$ and $Δ>0$ there exists $η>0$ such that the following holds: Let $G$ be an $n$-vertex graph with at least $Ω(n^2)$ edges and let $H$ be an $n$-vertex $d$-degenerate graph with maximum degree at most $Δ$. Then with high probability, $G \cup G(n, n^{-1/d - η})$ contains a copy of $H$. We also prove that the same conclusion extends to $d$-regular graphs with $d\ge 4$ satisfying a certain edge expansion property, with the threshold improved to $n^{-2/d - η}$. Such a property is satisfied by almost all $d$-regular graphs and for even $d$, by the $(d/2)$-th power of a Hamilton cycle.