diff --git a/src/ruby/lib/grpc/grpc.rb b/src/ruby/lib/grpc/grpc.rb
index 720e8216190..eff84a47a6f 100644
--- a/src/ruby/lib/grpc/grpc.rb
+++ b/src/ruby/lib/grpc/grpc.rb
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
 begin
   RUBY_VERSION =~ /(\d+\.\d+)/
-  require "#{$1}/grpc_c"
+  require_relative "#{$1}/grpc_c"
 rescue LoadError
   require_relative 'grpc_c'
 end