diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 02ae1c3..839dcc0 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -11,7 +11,13 @@ def location_for(place, fake_version = nil)
 end
 
 group :development, :unit_tests do
-  gem 'rspec-core', '3.1.7',     :require => false
+  # rspec must be v2 for ruby 1.8.7
+  if RUBY_VERSION >= '1.8.7' and RUBY_VERSION < '1.9'
+    gem 'rspec', '~> 2.0'
+  else
+    gem 'rspec-core', '3.1.7',     :require => false
+  end
+
   gem 'puppetlabs_spec_helper',  :require => false
   gem 'simplecov',               :require => false
   gem 'json',                    :require => false