diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index c6ff9c4..4af958f 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+require "rubygems"
+require "spec" # Satisfies Autotest and anyone else not using the Rake tasks
+
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../lib/couchrest'
 
 FIXTURE_PATH = File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/fixtures'