diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/time.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/time.rb
index 2006cf494643..78bbfc917c3d 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/time.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/time.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class << self
       alias_method :_original_load, :_load
       def _load(marshaled_time)
         time = _original_load(marshaled_time)
-        utc = time.send(:remove_instance_variable, '@marshal_with_utc_coercion')
+        utc = time.instance_variable_get('@marshal_with_utc_coercion')
         utc ? time.utc : time
       end
     end