diff --git a/lib/ostruct.rb b/lib/ostruct.rb
index 25ccac8dfa..2edb2edeb4 100644
--- a/lib/ostruct.rb
+++ b/lib/ostruct.rb
@@ -73,12 +73,6 @@
 # of these properties compared to using a Hash or a Struct.
 #
 class OpenStruct
-  class << self # :nodoc:
-    def allocate
-      (x = super).instance_variable_set(:@table, {})
-      x
-    end
-  end
 
   #
   # Creates a new OpenStruct object.  By default, the resulting OpenStruct
@@ -198,7 +192,7 @@ class OpenStruct
 
   def respond_to_missing?(mid, include_private = false) # :nodoc:
     mname = mid.to_s.chomp("=").to_sym
-    @table.key?(mname) || super
+    @table&.key?(mname) || super
   end
 
   def method_missing(mid, *args) # :nodoc: