diff --git a/lib/rubygems/package.rb b/lib/rubygems/package.rb
index b944a050a3..060c82d02c 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/package.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/package.rb
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 # #files are the files in the .gem tar file, not the Ruby files in the gem
 # #extract_files and #contents automatically call #verify
 
+require "rubygems"
 require 'rubygems/security'
 require 'rubygems/specification'
 require 'rubygems/user_interaction'
diff --git a/test/rubygems/test_project_sanity.rb b/test/rubygems/test_project_sanity.rb
index 6a9eb3b83f..f3f111b25b 100644
--- a/test/rubygems/test_project_sanity.rb
+++ b/test/rubygems/test_project_sanity.rb
@@ -12,4 +12,10 @@ class TestProjectSanity < Minitest::Test
     assert status.success?, "Expected Manifest.txt to be up to date, but it's not. Run `rake update_manifest` to sync it."
   end
 
+  def test_require_rubygems_package
+    _, status = Open3.capture2e("ruby -v --disable-gems -I 'lib' -e 'require \"rubygems/package\"'")
+
+    assert status.success?
+  end
+
 end