1 files changed, 7 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/lib/rubygems/package/tar_input.rb b/lib/rubygems/package/tar_input.rb
index 26b4e81ead..5ac93ff336 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/package/tar_input.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/package/tar_input.rb
@@ -49,8 +49,13 @@ class Gem::Package::TarInput
             sio.rewind
           end
 
-          # TODO use Gem.gunzip
-          gzis = Zlib::GzipReader.new(sio || entry)
+          # Ruby 1.8 doesn't have encoding and YAML is UTF-8
+          args = [sio || entry]
+          args << { :external_encoding => Encoding::UTF_8 } if
+            Object.const_defined?(:Encoding)
+
+          gzis = Zlib::GzipReader.new(*args)
+
           # YAML wants an instance of IO
           @metadata = load_gemspec(gzis)
           has_meta = true