diff --git a/lib/ecto/association.ex b/lib/ecto/association.ex
index 1bf2e11d1f..97b0eaa290 100644
--- a/lib/ecto/association.ex
+++ b/lib/ecto/association.ex
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ defmodule Ecto.Association do
     |> Enum.map(&elem(&1, 0))
 
     # If we're preloading we don't need the last table since it is the owner table.
-    filtered_list = if(join_to == nil, do: Enum.slice(filtered_list, 0..-2), else: filtered_list)
+    filtered_list = if(join_to == nil, do: Enum.drop(filtered_list, -1), else: filtered_list)
 
     [source | joins] = filtered_list