diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 73c0768b..a844fe8e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,9 +7,11 @@ recommendations of [keepachangelog.com](http://keepachangelog.com/).
 
 ### Breaking Changes
 
-- In the PT rails engine, the `paper_trail` configuration has been
-  removed. This configuration object was deprecated in 10.2.0. Please review
-  docs section [2.d. Turning PaperTrail
+- Rails: Instead of an `Engine`, PT now provides a `Railtie`, which is simpler.
+- Rails: The deprecated `config.paper_trail` configuration technique
+  has been removed. This configuration object was deprecated in 10.2.0. It only
+  had one key, `config.paper_trail.enabled`. Please review docs section [2.d.
+  Turning PaperTrail
   Off](https://github.com/paper-trail-gem/paper_trail/#2d-turning-papertrail-off)
   for alternatives.
 
diff --git a/lib/paper_trail.rb b/lib/paper_trail.rb
index a64d6a4a..51b895b9 100644
--- a/lib/paper_trail.rb
+++ b/lib/paper_trail.rb
@@ -8,34 +8,17 @@
 # can revisit this decision.
 require "active_support/all"
 
-# AR is required for, eg. has_paper_trail.rb, so we could put this `require` in
-# all of those files, but it seems easier to troubleshoot if we just make sure
-# AR is loaded here before loading *any* of PT. See discussion of
-# performance/simplicity tradeoff for activesupport above.
-require "active_record"
-
-require "request_store"
 require "paper_trail/cleaner"
 require "paper_trail/compatibility"
 require "paper_trail/config"
-require "paper_trail/has_paper_trail"
 require "paper_trail/record_history"
-require "paper_trail/reifier"
 require "paper_trail/request"
-require "paper_trail/version_concern"
 require "paper_trail/version_number"
 require "paper_trail/serializers/json"
-require "paper_trail/serializers/yaml"
 
 # An ActiveRecord extension that tracks changes to your models, for auditing or
 # versioning.
 module PaperTrail
-  E_RAILS_NOT_LOADED = <<-EOS.squish.freeze
-    PaperTrail has been loaded too early, before rails is loaded. This can
-    happen when another gem defines the ::Rails namespace, then PT is loaded,
-    all before rails is loaded. You may want to reorder your Gemfile, or defer
-    the loading of PT by using `require: false` and a manual require elsewhere.
-  EOS
   E_TIMESTAMP_FIELD_CONFIG = <<-EOS.squish.freeze
     PaperTrail.timestamp_field= has been removed, without replacement. It is no
     longer configurable. The timestamp column in the versions table must now be
@@ -126,27 +109,18 @@ module PaperTrail
   end
 end
 
-# We use the `on_load` "hook" instead of `ActiveRecord::Base.include` because we
-# don't want to cause all of AR to be autloaded yet. See
-# https://guides.rubyonrails.org/engines.html#what-are-on-load-hooks-questionmark
-# to learn more about `on_load`.
-ActiveSupport.on_load(:active_record) do
-  include PaperTrail::Model
-end
-
-# Require frameworks
-if defined?(::Rails)
-  # Rails module is sometimes defined by gems like rails-html-sanitizer
-  # so we check for presence of Rails.application.
-  if defined?(::Rails.application)
-    require "paper_trail/frameworks/rails"
-  else
-    ::Kernel.warn(::PaperTrail::E_RAILS_NOT_LOADED)
-  end
+# PT is built on ActiveRecord, but does not require Rails. If Rails is defined,
+# our Railtie makes sure not to load the AR-dependent parts of PT until AR is
+# ready. A typical Rails `application.rb` has:
+#
+# ```
+# require 'rails/all' # Defines `Rails`
+# Bundler.require(*Rails.groups) # require 'paper_trail' (this file)
+# ```
+#
+# Non-rails applications should take similar care to load AR before PT.
+if defined?(Rails)
+  require "paper_trail/frameworks/rails"
 else
   require "paper_trail/frameworks/active_record"
 end
-
-if defined?(::ActiveRecord)
-  ::PaperTrail::Compatibility.check_activerecord(::ActiveRecord.gem_version)
-end
diff --git a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/active_record.rb b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/active_record.rb
index 65565710..43eb3fb2 100644
--- a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/active_record.rb
+++ b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/active_record.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
-# This file only needs to be loaded if the gem is being used outside of Rails,
-# since otherwise the model(s) will get loaded in via the `Rails::Engine`.
+# Either ActiveRecord has already been loaded by the Lazy Load Hook in our
+# Railtie, or else we load it now.
+require "active_record"
+::PaperTrail::Compatibility.check_activerecord(::ActiveRecord.gem_version)
+
+# Now we can load the parts of PT that depend on AR.
+require "paper_trail/has_paper_trail"
+require "paper_trail/reifier"
 require "paper_trail/frameworks/active_record/models/paper_trail/version"
+ActiveRecord::Base.include PaperTrail::Model
diff --git a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails.rb b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails.rb
index f53570db..2f50e678 100644
--- a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails.rb
+++ b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
-require "paper_trail/frameworks/rails/controller"
-require "paper_trail/frameworks/rails/engine"
+require "paper_trail/frameworks/rails/railtie"
diff --git a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/controller.rb b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/controller.rb
index 99881042..f69303fc 100644
--- a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/controller.rb
+++ b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/controller.rb
@@ -101,9 +101,3 @@ module PaperTrail
     end
   end
 end
-
-if defined?(::ActionController)
-  ::ActiveSupport.on_load(:action_controller) do
-    include ::PaperTrail::Rails::Controller
-  end
-end
diff --git a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/engine.rb b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/engine.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 0884b877..00000000
--- a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/engine.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-# frozen_string_literal: true
-
-module PaperTrail
-  module Rails
-    # See http://guides.rubyonrails.org/engines.html
-    class Engine < ::Rails::Engine
-      paths["app/models"] << "lib/paper_trail/frameworks/active_record/models"
-    end
-  end
-end
diff --git a/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/railtie.rb b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/railtie.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3b7fc6d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/paper_trail/frameworks/rails/railtie.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module PaperTrail
+  # Represents code to load within Rails framework. See documentation in
+  # `rails/railtie.rb`.
+  # @api private
+  class Railtie < ::Rails::Railtie
+    # PaperTrail only has one initializer. The `initializer` method can take a
+    # `before:` or `after:` argument, but that's only relevant for railties with
+    # more than one initializer.
+    initializer "paper_trail" do
+      # `on_load` is a "lazy load hook". It "declares a block that will be
+      # executed when a Rails component is fully loaded". (See
+      # `active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb`)
+      ActiveSupport.on_load(:action_controller) do
+        require "paper_trail/frameworks/rails/controller"
+
+        # Mix our extensions into `ActionController::Base`, which is `self`
+        # because of the `class_eval` in `lazy_load_hooks.rb`.
+        include PaperTrail::Rails::Controller
+      end
+
+      ActiveSupport.on_load(:active_record) do
+        require "paper_trail/frameworks/active_record"
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 17c84868..6fce6544 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ require "byebug"
 require_relative "support/pt_arel_helpers"
 
 unless File.exist?(File.expand_path("dummy_app/config/database.yml", __dir__))
-  warn "No database.yml detected for the dummy app, please run `rake prepare` first"
+  warn "No database.yml detected for the dummy app, please run `rake install_database_yml` first"
 end
 
 RSpec.configure do |config|