diff --git a/lib/rubygems/ext.rb b/lib/rubygems/ext.rb
index 1823df4ce7f0..5af6bbf39efa 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/ext.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/ext.rb
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 # See LICENSE.txt for permissions.
 #++
 
-require 'rubygems'
-
 ##
 # Classes for building C extensions live here.