diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 853ff9c731..9ae81b8d3c 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ gemspec
 # Add i18n support.
 gem 'refinerycms-i18n', '~> 2.1.0.dev', :git => 'git://github.com/parndt/refinerycms-i18n.git'
 
+# Temporarily use a custom branch for paper_trail (used by globalize3, used by refinerycms-pages)
+gem 'paper_trail', :git => 'git://github.com/parndt/paper_trail.git', :branch => 'less_rails'
+
 # Database Configuration
 platforms :jruby do
   gem 'activerecord-jdbcsqlite3-adapter'
@@ -21,7 +24,7 @@ end
 
 group :development, :test do
   gem 'refinerycms-testing', '~> 2.1.0.dev'
-  gem 'generator_spec', '>= 0.8.5'
+  gem 'generator_spec', '>= 0.8.5', :git => 'git://github.com/stevehodgkiss/generator_spec.git'
   gem 'guard-rspec', '~> 0.6.0'
   gem 'fuubar'
 
diff --git a/authentication/lib/refinery/authentication.rb b/authentication/lib/refinery/authentication.rb
index 052e49746f..019eb7f68d 100644
--- a/authentication/lib/refinery/authentication.rb
+++ b/authentication/lib/refinery/authentication.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require 'refinerycms-core'
+require 'action_mailer'
 require 'devise'
 require 'friendly_id'
 
diff --git a/authentication/refinerycms-authentication.gemspec b/authentication/refinerycms-authentication.gemspec
index 7872348935..bc75d2ea4d 100644
--- a/authentication/refinerycms-authentication.gemspec
+++ b/authentication/refinerycms-authentication.gemspec
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ $:.push File.expand_path('../../core/lib', __FILE__)
 require 'refinery/version'
 
 version = Refinery::Version.to_s
+rails_version = ['>= 3.1.3', '< 3.3']
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.platform          = Gem::Platform::RUBY
@@ -21,5 +22,6 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.test_files        = `git ls-files -- spec/*`.split("\n")
 
   s.add_dependency 'refinerycms-core',  version
+  s.add_dependency 'actionmailer',      rails_version
   s.add_dependency 'devise',            '~> 2.0.0'
 end
diff --git a/core/lib/generators/refinery/cms/cms_generator.rb b/core/lib/generators/refinery/cms/cms_generator.rb
index 728b8f01c7..0ab3119c2e 100644
--- a/core/lib/generators/refinery/cms/cms_generator.rb
+++ b/core/lib/generators/refinery/cms/cms_generator.rb
@@ -153,6 +153,14 @@ def ensure_environments_are_sane!
       %w(development test production).map{|e| "config/environments/#{e}.rb"}.each do |env|
         next unless destination_path.join(env).file?
 
+        # Refinery does not necessarily expect action_mailer to be available as
+        # we may not always require it (currently only the authentication extension).
+        # Rails, however, will optimistically place config entries for action_mailer.
+        insert_into_file env, "  if config.respond_to?(:action_mailer)\n  ",
+                              :before => %r{^[^#]+config\.action_mailer\.}, :verbose => false
+        insert_into_file env, "\n  end",
+                              :after => %r{^[^#]+config\.action_mailer\..*}, :verbose => false
+
         gsub_file env, "config.assets.compile = false", "config.assets.compile = true", :verbose => false
 
         insert_into_file env, %Q{
diff --git a/core/lib/refinery/core.rb b/core/lib/refinery/core.rb
index 9770148168..ef02b884e3 100644
--- a/core/lib/refinery/core.rb
+++ b/core/lib/refinery/core.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-require 'rails/all'
+require 'rails' # from railties
+require 'active_record'
+require 'action_controller'
 require 'rbconfig'
 require 'acts_as_indexed'
 require 'truncate_html'
diff --git a/core/refinerycms-core.gemspec b/core/refinerycms-core.gemspec
index ad659ae47a..23a824bf45 100644
--- a/core/refinerycms-core.gemspec
+++ b/core/refinerycms-core.gemspec
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ $:.push File.expand_path('../../core/lib', __FILE__)
 require 'refinery/version'
 
 version = Refinery::Version.to_s
+rails_version = ['>= 3.1.3', '< 3.3']
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.platform          = Gem::Platform::RUBY
@@ -24,7 +25,9 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_dependency 'friendly_id',                 '~> 4.0.1'
   s.add_dependency 'globalize3',                  '~> 0.2.0'
   s.add_dependency 'awesome_nested_set',          '~> 2.1.0'
-  s.add_dependency 'rails',                       ['>= 3.1.3', '< 3.3']
+  s.add_dependency 'railties',                    rails_version
+  s.add_dependency 'activerecord',                rails_version
+  s.add_dependency 'actionpack',                  rails_version
   s.add_dependency 'truncate_html',               '~> 0.5'
   s.add_dependency 'will_paginate',               '~> 3.0.2'
   s.add_dependency 'sass-rails',                  '~> 3.2.3'