diff --git a/lib/rubygems/specification.rb b/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
index 75750a5a2c..4c5ecb8f79 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
@@ -1308,7 +1308,7 @@ class Gem::Specification < Gem::BasicSpecification
     spec.instance_variable_set :@authors,                   array[12]
     spec.instance_variable_set :@description,               array[13]
     spec.instance_variable_set :@homepage,                  array[14]
-    spec.instance_variable_set :@has_rdoc,                  array[15]
+    # offset due to has_rdoc removal
     spec.instance_variable_set :@licenses,                  array[17]
     spec.instance_variable_set :@metadata,                  array[18]
     spec.instance_variable_set :@loaded,                    false
@@ -1884,29 +1884,6 @@ class Gem::Specification < Gem::BasicSpecification
     @gems_dir ||= File.join(base_dir, "gems")
   end
 
-  ##
-  # Deprecated and ignored, defaults to true.
-  #
-  # Formerly used to indicate this gem was RDoc-capable.
-
-  def has_rdoc # :nodoc:
-    true
-  end
-  rubygems_deprecate :has_rdoc
-
-  ##
-  # Deprecated and ignored.
-  #
-  # Formerly used to indicate this gem was RDoc-capable.
-
-  def has_rdoc=(ignored) # :nodoc:
-    @has_rdoc = true
-  end
-  rubygems_deprecate :has_rdoc=
-
-  alias_method :has_rdoc?, :has_rdoc # :nodoc:
-  rubygems_deprecate :has_rdoc?
-
   ##
   # True if this gem has files in test_files
 
@@ -2399,7 +2376,6 @@ class Gem::Specification < Gem::BasicSpecification
       :required_rubygems_version,
       :specification_version,
       :version,
-      :has_rdoc,
       :metadata,
       :signing_key,
     ]
diff --git a/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb b/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
index 2d55e9992b..05138e570e 100644
--- a/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
+++ b/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ has_rdoc: true
 Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.name = %q{keyedlist}
   s.version = %q{0.4.0}
-  s.has_rdoc = true
   s.summary = %q{A Hash which automatically computes keys.}
   s.files = [%q{lib/keyedlist.rb}]
   s.require_paths = [%q{lib}]