diff --git a/railties/lib/tasks/databases.rake b/railties/lib/tasks/databases.rake
index aa23eec6e5..54f9beaede 100644
--- a/railties/lib/tasks/databases.rake
+++ b/railties/lib/tasks/databases.rake
@@ -127,14 +127,16 @@ namespace :db do
 
   desc "Raises an error if there are pending migrations"
   task :abort_if_pending_migrations => :environment do
-    pending_migrations = ActiveRecord::Migrator.new(:up, 'db/migrate').pending_migrations
+    if defined? ActiveRecord
+      pending_migrations = ActiveRecord::Migrator.new(:up, 'db/migrate').pending_migrations
 
-    if pending_migrations.any?
-      puts "You have #{pending_migrations.size} pending migrations:"
-      pending_migrations.each do |pending_migration|
-        puts '  %4d %s' % [pending_migration.version, pending_migration.name]
+      if pending_migrations.any?
+        puts "You have #{pending_migrations.size} pending migrations:"
+        pending_migrations.each do |pending_migration|
+          puts '  %4d %s' % [pending_migration.version, pending_migration.name]
+        end
+        abort "Run `rake db:migrate` to update your database then try again."
       end
-      abort "Run `rake db:migrate` to update your database then try again."
     end
   end
 
@@ -304,7 +306,7 @@ namespace :db do
 
     desc 'Prepare the test database and load the schema'
     task :prepare => %w(environment db:abort_if_pending_migrations) do
-      if defined?(ActiveRecord::Base) && !ActiveRecord::Base.configurations.blank?
+      if defined?(ActiveRecord) && !ActiveRecord::Base.configurations.blank?
         Rake::Task[{ :sql  => "db:test:clone_structure", :ruby => "db:test:clone" }[ActiveRecord::Base.schema_format]].invoke
       end
     end