diff --git a/lib/minitest/autorun.rb b/lib/minitest/autorun.rb
index 3b6c2d49f1..6317c220bc 100644
--- a/lib/minitest/autorun.rb
+++ b/lib/minitest/autorun.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@
 # File a patch instead and assign it to Ryan Davis.
 ######################################################################
 
+begin
+  gem 'minitest'
+rescue Gem::LoadError
+  # do nothing
+end
+
 require 'minitest/unit'
 require 'minitest/spec'
 require 'minitest/mock'