diff --git a/yajl-ruby.gemspec b/yajl-ruby.gemspec
index a349c80..619dd4c 100644
--- a/yajl-ruby.gemspec
+++ b/yajl-ruby.gemspec
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-require './lib/yajl/version'
+lib = File.expand_path('lib', __dir__)
+$LOAD_PATH.unshift(lib) unless $LOAD_PATH.include?(lib)
+require 'yajl/version'
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name = %q{yajl-ruby}