diff --git a/lib/figaro/rails.rb b/lib/figaro/rails.rb
index 18103e5..e7ff7da 100644
--- a/lib/figaro/rails.rb
+++ b/lib/figaro/rails.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
-begin
-  require "rails"
-rescue LoadError
-else
+# at require-time, we need Rails to be defined to initialize the railtie
+# and set the default adapter to the Rails::Application adapter
+if defined?(Rails)
   require "figaro/rails/application"
   require "figaro/rails/railtie"
-
   Figaro.adapter = Figaro::Rails::Application
 end
diff --git a/spec/figaro/rails/application_spec.rb b/spec/figaro/rails/application_spec.rb
index fa49df7..705a432 100644
--- a/spec/figaro/rails/application_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/figaro/rails/application_spec.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
+require 'figaro/rails/application'
+
 module Figaro
   module Rails
     describe Application do
+      before do
+        stub_const('Rails', double('Rails'))
+      end
+
       describe "#default_path" do
         let!(:application) { Application.new }
 
diff --git a/spec/figaro_spec.rb b/spec/figaro_spec.rb
index 6d9dbf1..ff9a521 100644
--- a/spec/figaro_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/figaro_spec.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
 describe Figaro do
+  describe 'require' do
+    it 'does not load Rails' do
+      require 'figaro'
+      expect(defined?(Rails)).to be nil
+    end
+  end
+
   describe ".env" do
     it "falls through to Figaro::ENV" do
       expect(Figaro.env).to eq(Figaro::ENV)