diff --git a/lisp/progmodes/ruby-mode.el b/lisp/progmodes/ruby-mode.el
index e7f407b6367..3f8afd97050 100644
--- a/lisp/progmodes/ruby-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/progmodes/ruby-mode.el
@@ -1802,12 +1802,12 @@ FEATURE-NAME is a relative file name, file extension is optional.
 This commands delegates to `gem which', which searches both
 installed gems and the standard library.  When called
 interactively, defaults to the feature name in the `require'
-statement around point."
+or `gem' statement around point."
   (interactive)
   (unless feature-name
     (let ((init (save-excursion
                   (forward-line 0)
-                  (when (looking-at "require [\"']\\(.*\\)[\"']")
+                  (when (looking-at "\\(?:require\\| *gem\\) [\"']\\(.*?\\)[\"']")
                     (match-string 1)))))
       (setq feature-name (read-string "Feature name: " init))))
   (let ((out