diff --git a/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb b/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
index 6aa0843e6..d6491fa9e 100644
--- a/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mysql2/client_spec.rb
@@ -718,6 +718,8 @@ def connect *args
     end
 
     context 'when mysql encoding is not utf8' do
+      before { pending('Encoding is undefined') unless defined?(Encoding) }
+
       let(:client) { Mysql2::Client.new(DatabaseCredentials['root'].merge(:encoding => "ujis")) }
 
       it 'should return a internal encoding string if Encoding.default_internal is set' do