diff --git a/Changelog.md b/Changelog.md
index d8c397cfad..657d352da2 100644
--- a/Changelog.md
+++ b/Changelog.md
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-### Dev
+### Development
+
+Breaking Changes for 3.0.0:
+
+* Remove explicit support for 1.8.6 (Jon Rowe)
 
 Enhancements
 
diff --git a/cucumber.yml b/cucumber.yml
index 2b5bc7f3e8..bb0b8cf01d 100644
--- a/cucumber.yml
+++ b/cucumber.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 <%
 exclusions = []
 exclusions << ' --tags ~@no-jruby' if RUBY_PLATFORM == 'java'
-exclusions << ' --tags ~@no-ruby-186' if RUBY_VERSION == '1.8.6'
 %>
 default: --require features --strict --format progress --tags ~@wip<%= exclusions.join %> features
 wip:     --require features --tags @wip:3 --wip features
diff --git a/features/Upgrade.md b/features/Upgrade.md
index e78d44548a..699ad950ee 100644
--- a/features/Upgrade.md
+++ b/features/Upgrade.md
@@ -123,10 +123,10 @@ Use :if and :unless keys to conditionally run examples with simple boolean
 expressions:
 
     describe "something" do
-      it "does something", :if => RUBY_VERSION == 1.8.6 do
+      it "does something", :if => RUBY_VERSION == 1.8.7 do
         # ...
       end
-      it "does something", :unless => RUBY_VERSION == 1.8.6 do
+      it "does something", :unless => RUBY_VERSION == 1.8.7 do
         # ...
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/core.rb b/lib/rspec/core.rb
index 25fd945cbf..8c28748a92 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/core.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/core.rb
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 require_rspec['core/filter_manager']
 require_rspec['core/dsl']
 require_rspec['core/extensions/kernel']
-require_rspec['core/extensions/instance_eval_with_args']
-require_rspec['core/extensions/module_eval_with_args']
 require_rspec['core/extensions/ordered']
 require_rspec['core/deprecation']
 require_rspec['core/backward_compatibility']
diff --git a/lib/rspec/core/example.rb b/lib/rspec/core/example.rb
index afee4f226c..415dfe54fe 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/core/example.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/core/example.rb
@@ -243,8 +243,8 @@ def instance_eval_with_rescue(context = nil, &block)
       end
 
       # @private
-      def instance_eval_with_args(*args, &block)
-        @example_group_instance.instance_eval_with_args(*args, &block)
+      def instance_exec(*args, &block)
+        @example_group_instance.instance_exec(*args, &block)
       end
 
     private
diff --git a/lib/rspec/core/example_group.rb b/lib/rspec/core/example_group.rb
index ca82168d23..163680a049 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/core/example_group.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/core/example_group.rb
@@ -14,11 +14,9 @@ module Core
     # is declared.
     class ExampleGroup
       extend  MetadataHashBuilder::WithDeprecationWarning
-      extend  Extensions::ModuleEvalWithArgs
       extend  Hooks
 
       include MemoizedHelpers
-      include Extensions::InstanceEvalWithArgs
       include Pending
       include SharedExampleGroup
 
@@ -161,7 +159,7 @@ def self.find_and_eval_shared(label, name, *args, &customization_block)
         raise ArgumentError, "Could not find shared #{label} #{name.inspect}" unless
         shared_block = shared_example_groups[name]
 
-        module_eval_with_args(*args, &shared_block)
+        module_exec(*args, &shared_block)
         module_eval(&customization_block) if customization_block
       end
 
diff --git a/lib/rspec/core/extensions/instance_eval_with_args.rb b/lib/rspec/core/extensions/instance_eval_with_args.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index a3c1d59978..0000000000
--- a/lib/rspec/core/extensions/instance_eval_with_args.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-module RSpec
-  module Core
-    module Extensions
-      # @private
-      module InstanceEvalWithArgs
-        # @private
-        #
-        # Used internally to support `instance_exec` in Ruby 1.8.6.
-        #
-        # based on Bounded Spec InstanceExec (Mauricio Fernandez)
-        # http://eigenclass.org/hiki/bounded+space+instance_exec
-        # - uses singleton_class instead of global InstanceExecHelper module
-        # - this keeps it scoped to classes/modules that include this module
-        # - only necessary for ruby 1.8.6
-        def instance_eval_with_args(*args, &block)
-          return instance_exec(*args, &block) if respond_to?(:instance_exec)
-
-          # If there are no args and the block doesn't expect any, there's no
-          # need to fake instance_exec with our hack below.
-          # Notes:
-          #   * lambda { }.arity # => -1
-          #   * lambda { || }.arity # => 0
-          #   * lambda { |*a| }.arity # -1
-          return instance_eval(&block) if block.arity < 1 && args.size.zero?
-
-          singleton_class = (class << self; self; end)
-          begin
-            orig_critical, Thread.critical = Thread.critical, true
-            n = 0
-            n += 1 while respond_to?(method_name="__instance_exec#{n}")
-            singleton_class.module_eval{ define_method(method_name, &block) }
-          ensure
-            Thread.critical = orig_critical
-          end
-          begin
-            return send(method_name, *args)
-          ensure
-            singleton_class.module_eval{ remove_method(method_name) } rescue nil
-          end
-        end
-      end
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/core/extensions/module_eval_with_args.rb b/lib/rspec/core/extensions/module_eval_with_args.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index a6bb25a1f4..0000000000
--- a/lib/rspec/core/extensions/module_eval_with_args.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-module RSpec
-  module Core
-    module Extensions
-      # @private
-      module ModuleEvalWithArgs
-        include InstanceEvalWithArgs
-
-        # @private
-        #
-        # Used internally to support `module_exec` in Ruby 1.8.6.
-        def module_eval_with_args(*args, &block)
-          # ruby > 1.8.6
-          return module_exec(*args, &block) if respond_to?(:module_exec)
-
-          # If there are no args and the block doesn't expect any, there's no
-          # need to fake module_exec with our hack below.
-          # Notes:
-          #   * lambda {      }.arity # => -1
-          #   * lambda { ||   }.arity # =>  0
-          #   * lambda { |*a| }.arity # => -1
-          return module_eval(&block) if block.arity < 1 && args.size.zero?
-
-          orig_singleton_methods = singleton_methods
-          instance_eval_with_args(*args, &block)
-
-          # The only difference between instance_eval and module_eval is static method defs.
-          #   * `def foo` in instance_eval defines a singleton method on the instance
-          #   * `def foo` in class/module_eval defines an instance method for the class/module
-          # Here we deal with this difference by defining an instance method for
-          # each new singleton method.
-          # This has the side effect of duplicating methods (all new class methods will
-          # become instance methods and vice versa), but I don't see a way around it...
-          (singleton_methods - orig_singleton_methods).each { |m| define_method(m, &method(m)) }
-        end
-      end
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/core/hooks.rb b/lib/rspec/core/hooks.rb
index df3ea70366..f6b2fe5b87 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/core/hooks.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/core/hooks.rb
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def with(example, initial_procsy)
         def run
           inject(@initial_procsy) do |procsy, around_hook|
             Example.procsy(procsy.metadata) do
-              @example.instance_eval_with_args(procsy, &around_hook.block)
+              @example.instance_exec(procsy, &around_hook.block)
             end
           end.call
         end
diff --git a/lib/rspec/core/rake_task.rb b/lib/rspec/core/rake_task.rb
index 1bbb9f9ebd..d34983b42f 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/core/rake_task.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/core/rake_task.rb
@@ -151,14 +151,8 @@ def run_task(verbose)
 
     private
 
-      if "".respond_to?(:shellescape)
-        def shellescape(string)
-          string.shellescape
-        end
-      else # 1.8.6's shellwords doesn't provide shellescape :(.
-        def shellescape(string)
-          string.gsub(/"/, '\"').gsub(/'/, "\\\\'")
-        end
+      def shellescape(string)
+        string.shellescape
       end
 
       def files_to_run
diff --git a/rspec-core.gemspec b/rspec-core.gemspec
index f6db3e9896..a8d6412535 100644
--- a/rspec-core.gemspec
+++ b/rspec-core.gemspec
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.rdoc_options     = ["--charset=UTF-8"]
   s.require_path     = "lib"
 
+  s.required_ruby_version = '>= 1.8.7'
+
   s.add_development_dependency "rake",     "~> 10.0.0"
   s.add_development_dependency "cucumber", "~> 1.1.9"
   s.add_development_dependency "aruba",    "~> 0.5"