diff --git a/lib/rubygems/basic_specification.rb b/lib/rubygems/basic_specification.rb
index 0bb139f861..0eee52492f 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/basic_specification.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/basic_specification.rb
@@ -105,6 +105,13 @@ class Gem::BasicSpecification
     default_gem? ? 1 : -1
   end
 
+  ##
+  # Gems higher up in +gem_path+ take precedence
+
+  def base_dir_priority(gem_path)
+    gem_path.index(base_dir) || gem_path.size
+  end
+
   ##
   # Returns full path to the directory where gem's extensions are installed.
 
diff --git a/lib/rubygems/specification.rb b/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
index 99d2a96def..e50f833852 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
@@ -771,6 +771,11 @@ class Gem::Specification < Gem::BasicSpecification
   end
   private_class_method :clear_load_cache
 
+  def self.gem_path # :nodoc:
+    Gem.path
+  end
+  private_class_method :gem_path
+
   def self.each_gemspec(dirs) # :nodoc:
     dirs.each do |dir|
       Gem::Util.glob_files_in_dir("*.gemspec", dir).each do |path|
@@ -834,7 +839,7 @@ class Gem::Specification < Gem::BasicSpecification
       next platforms if platforms.nonzero?
       default_gem = a.default_gem_priority <=> b.default_gem_priority
       next default_gem if default_gem.nonzero?
-      b.base_dir == Gem.path.first ? 1 : -1
+      a.base_dir_priority(gem_path) <=> b.base_dir_priority(gem_path)
     end
   end
 
@@ -910,7 +915,7 @@ class Gem::Specification < Gem::BasicSpecification
   # Return the directories that Specification uses to find specs.
 
   def self.dirs
-    @@dirs ||= Gem::SpecificationRecord.dirs_from(Gem.path)
+    @@dirs ||= Gem::SpecificationRecord.dirs_from(gem_path)
   end
 
   ##