diff --git a/lib/rubygems/gemcutter_utilities.rb b/lib/rubygems/gemcutter_utilities.rb
index a8a586fa02..9fb31f990f 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/gemcutter_utilities.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/gemcutter_utilities.rb
@@ -332,6 +332,8 @@ module Gem::GemcutterUtilities
       request.basic_auth email, password
     end
 
+    Gem.load_yaml
+
     with_response response do |resp|
       Gem::SafeYAML.load clean_text(resp.body)
     end