diff --git a/actionpack/Gemfile b/actionpack/Gemfile
index 8abf63bd35..b1579b427b 100644
--- a/actionpack/Gemfile
+++ b/actionpack/Gemfile
@@ -9,12 +9,6 @@ only :test do
   gem "mocha"
   gem "sqlite3-ruby"
   gem "RedCloth"
-
-  activesupport_vendor = rails_root.join('activesupport', 'lib', 'active_support', 'vendor')
-
-  gem 'builder', '2.1.2', :vendored_at => activesupport_vendor.join('builder-2.1.2')
-  gem 'memcache-client', '1.6.5', :vendored_at => activesupport_vendor.join('memcache-client-1.6.5')
-  gem 'tzinfo', '0.3.13', :vendored_at => activesupport_vendor.join('tzinfo-0.3.13')
 end
 
 disable_system_gems
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers/builder.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers/builder.rb
index 5f381f7bf0..ba0d17b5af 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers/builder.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers/builder.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ module ActionView
       self.default_format = Mime::XML
 
       def compile(template)
-        require 'builder'
+        require 'active_support/vendor/builder'
         "xml = ::Builder::XmlMarkup.new(:indent => 2);" +
           "self.output_buffer = xml.target!;" +
           template.source +
diff --git a/actionpack/test/abstract_unit.rb b/actionpack/test/abstract_unit.rb
index f1914217f4..7776bd0704 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/abstract_unit.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/abstract_unit.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ $:.unshift(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/fixtures/helpers')
 $:.unshift(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/fixtures/alternate_helpers')
 
 require 'bundler_helper'
-ensure_requirable %w( rack rack/test sqlite3 builder memcache tzinfo )
+ensure_requirable %w( rack rack/test sqlite3 )
 
 ENV['TMPDIR'] = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'tmp')
 
diff --git a/actionpack/test/template/form_options_helper_test.rb b/actionpack/test/template/form_options_helper_test.rb
index aa40e46aa8..f3cdab05bf 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/template/form_options_helper_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/template/form_options_helper_test.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 require 'abstract_unit'
-require 'tzinfo'
+require 'active_support/vendor/tzinfo'
 
 TZInfo::Timezone.cattr_reader :loaded_zones
 
diff --git a/activesupport/Gemfile b/activesupport/Gemfile
deleted file mode 100644
index 5423d6f405..0000000000
--- a/activesupport/Gemfile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-lib_dir = Pathname.new(File.dirname(__FILE__)).join('lib')
-vendor_dir = lib_dir.join('active_support', 'vendor')
-
-# gem 'builder', '~> 2.1.2'
-# gem 'memcache-client', '>= 1.6.5'
-# gem 'tzinfo', '~> 0.3.13'
-# gem 'i18n', '~> 0.1.3'
-
-gem 'builder', '2.1.2', :vendored_at => vendor_dir.join('builder-2.1.2')
-gem 'memcache-client', '1.6.5', :vendored_at => vendor_dir.join('memcache-client-1.6.5')
-gem 'tzinfo', '0.3.13', :vendored_at => vendor_dir.join('tzinfo-0.3.13')
-gem 'i18n', '0.1.3', :vendored_at => vendor_dir.join('i18n-0.1.3')
-
-only :test do
-  gem 'mocha', '>= 0.9.7'
-end
-
-disable_rubygems
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support.rb
index 4dcb6191df..3372fb853a 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support.rb
@@ -37,11 +37,5 @@ end
 require 'active_support/autoload'
 require 'active_support/vendor'
 
-begin
-  require 'i18n'
-rescue LoadError
-  $: << File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'active_support/vendor/i18n-0.1.3/lib'))
-  retry
-end
-
+require 'active_support/vendor/i18n'
 I18n.load_path << "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/active_support/locale/en.yml"
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/cache/mem_cache_store.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/cache/mem_cache_store.rb
index 96a8000778..7c97b05261 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/cache/mem_cache_store.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/cache/mem_cache_store.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require 'memcache'
+require 'active_support/vendor/memcache'
 
 module ActiveSupport
   module Cache
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/array/conversions.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/array/conversions.rb
index c53cf3f530..0743ab181e 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/array/conversions.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/array/conversions.rb
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ class Array
   #
   def to_xml(options = {})
     raise "Not all elements respond to to_xml" unless all? { |e| e.respond_to? :to_xml }
-    require 'builder' unless defined?(Builder)
+    require 'active_support/vendor/builder' unless defined?(Builder)
 
     options = options.dup
     options[:root]     ||= all? { |e| e.is_a?(first.class) && first.class.to_s != "Hash" } ? ActiveSupport::Inflector.pluralize(ActiveSupport::Inflector.underscore(first.class.name)) : "records"
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/hash/conversions.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/hash/conversions.rb
index bd9419e1a2..1f8bd7cd82 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/hash/conversions.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/hash/conversions.rb
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class Hash
   alias_method :to_param, :to_query
 
   def to_xml(options = {})
-    require 'builder' unless defined?(Builder)
+    require 'active_support/vendor/builder' unless defined?(Builder)
 
     options = options.dup
     options[:indent] ||= 2
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/xchar.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/xchar.rb
index 7183218634..26857c8b0d 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/xchar.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/xchar.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ rescue LoadError
   # fast_xs extension unavailable
 else
   begin
-    require 'builder'
+    require 'active_support/vendor/builder'
   rescue LoadError
     # builder demands the first shot at defining String#to_xs
   end
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/values/time_zone.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/values/time_zone.rb
index 564528bfe2..4eb268ac7d 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/values/time_zone.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/values/time_zone.rb
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ module ActiveSupport
 
     # TODO: Preload instead of lazy load for thread safety
     def tzinfo
-      require 'tzinfo' unless defined?(TZInfo)
+      require 'active_support/vendor/tzinfo' unless defined?(TZInfo)
       @tzinfo ||= TZInfo::Timezone.get(MAPPING[name])
     end
 
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor.rb
index f9ecefe4e7..10dbfd9a77 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor.rb
@@ -1,27 +1,23 @@
-# Prefer gems to the bundled libs.
-require 'rubygems'
+# Fakes out gem optional dependencies until they are fully supported by gemspec.
+# Activate any optional dependencies that are available.
+if defined? Gem
+  begin
+    gem 'builder', '~> 2.1.2'
+  rescue Gem::LoadError
+  end
 
-begin
-  gem 'builder', '~> 2.1.2'
-rescue Gem::LoadError
-  $:.unshift "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/vendor/builder-2.1.2/lib"
-end
+  begin
+    gem 'memcache-client', '>= 1.6.5'
+  rescue Gem::LoadError
+  end
 
-begin
-  gem 'memcache-client', '>= 1.6.5'
-rescue Gem::LoadError
-  $:.unshift "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/vendor/memcache-client-1.6.5/lib"
-end
+  begin
+    gem 'tzinfo', '~> 0.3.13'
+  rescue Gem::LoadError
+  end
 
-begin
-  gem 'tzinfo', '~> 0.3.13'
-rescue Gem::LoadError
-  $:.unshift "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/vendor/tzinfo-0.3.13/lib"
-end
-
-begin
-  gem 'i18n', '~> 0.1.3'
-rescue Gem::LoadError
-  $:.unshift "#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/vendor/i18n-0.1.3/lib"
-  require 'i18n'
+  begin
+    gem 'i18n', '~> 0.1.3'
+  rescue Gem::LoadError
+  end
 end
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/builder.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/builder.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ad89e6635d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/builder.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+begin
+  require 'builder'
+rescue LoadError
+  $:.unshift File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'builder-2.1.2', 'lib'))
+  retry
+end
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6011253035
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/i18n.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+begin
+  require 'i18n'
+rescue LoadError
+  $:.unshift File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'i18n-0.1.3', 'lib'))
+  retry
+end
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/memcache.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/memcache.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d0c9c9f8b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/memcache.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+begin
+  require 'memcache'
+rescue LoadError
+  $:.unshift File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'memcache-client-1.6.5', 'lib'))
+  retry
+end
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/tzinfo.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/tzinfo.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..01fba6d632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/vendor/tzinfo.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+begin
+  require 'tzinfo'
+rescue LoadError
+  $:.unshift File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'tzinfo-0.3.13', 'lib'))
+  retry
+end
diff --git a/activesupport/test/abstract_unit.rb b/activesupport/test/abstract_unit.rb
index f364b7ecd8..4bc035c439 100644
--- a/activesupport/test/abstract_unit.rb
+++ b/activesupport/test/abstract_unit.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 ORIG_ARGV = ARGV.dup
 
-require 'bundler_helper'
-ensure_requirable %w( builder memcache tzinfo )
-
+require 'rubygems'
 require 'test/unit'
 
 ENV['NO_RELOAD'] = '1'
@@ -14,7 +12,7 @@ require 'active_support/test_case'
 require 'active_support/ruby/shim'
 
 def uses_memcached(test_name)
-  require 'memcache'
+  require 'active_support/vendor/memcache'
   begin
     MemCache.new('localhost').stats
     yield
diff --git a/activesupport/test/bundler_helper.rb b/activesupport/test/bundler_helper.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f3e982f19..0000000000
--- a/activesupport/test/bundler_helper.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-BUNDLER_ENV_FILE = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'vendor', 'gems', 'environment')
-
-def load_bundled_gems
-  load_bundled_gems! if File.exist?("#{BUNDLER_ENV_FILE}.rb")
-end
-
-def load_bundled_gems!
-  puts "Checking if the bundled testing requirements are up to date..."
-
-  result = system "gem bundle"
-  unless result
-    puts "The gem bundler is not installed. Installing."
-    system "gem install bundler"
-    system "gem bundle"
-  end
-
-  require BUNDLER_ENV_FILE
-end
-
-def ensure_requirable(libs)
-  load_bundled_gems
-
-  begin
-    libs.each { |lib| require lib }
-  rescue LoadError => e
-    puts "Missing required libs to run test"
-    puts e.message
-    load_bundled_gems!
-  end
-end