diff --git a/lib/rake/ext/time.rb b/lib/rake/ext/time.rb
index b6c5ef3de..ea8b037e3 100644
--- a/lib/rake/ext/time.rb
+++ b/lib/rake/ext/time.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #--
 # Extensions to time to allow comparisons with an early time class.
 
+require 'rake/early_time'
+
 class Time
   alias rake_original_time_compare :<=>
   def <=>(other)