diff --git a/lib/rubygems/specification.rb b/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
index cd07c72723fe..827925b305da 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/specification.rb
@@ -156,7 +156,6 @@ class Gem::Specification < Gem::BasicSpecification
     :required_ruby_version     => Gem::Requirement.default,
     :required_rubygems_version => Gem::Requirement.default,
     :requirements              => [],
-    :rubyforge_project         => nil,
     :rubygems_version          => Gem::VERSION,
     :signing_key               => nil,
     :specification_version     => CURRENT_SPECIFICATION_VERSION,
@@ -732,12 +731,11 @@ def test_files= files # :nodoc:
   attr_writer :original_platform # :nodoc:
 
   ##
-  # The rubyforge project this gem lives under.  i.e. RubyGems'
-  # rubyforge_project is "rubygems".
+  # Deprecated and ignored.
   #
-  # This option is deprecated.
+  # Formerly used to set rubyforge project.
 
-  attr_accessor :rubyforge_project
+  attr_writer :rubyforge_project
 
   ##
   # The Gem::Specification version of this gemspec.
@@ -1349,7 +1347,7 @@ def self._load(str)
     spec.instance_variable_set :@required_rubygems_version, array[7]
     spec.instance_variable_set :@original_platform,         array[8]
     spec.instance_variable_set :@dependencies,              array[9]
-    spec.instance_variable_set :@rubyforge_project,         array[10]
+    # offset due to rubyforge_project removal
     spec.instance_variable_set :@email,                     array[11]
     spec.instance_variable_set :@authors,                   array[12]
     spec.instance_variable_set :@description,               array[13]
@@ -1394,7 +1392,7 @@ def _dump(limit)
       @required_rubygems_version,
       @original_platform,
       @dependencies,
-      @rubyforge_project,
+      '', # rubyforge_project
       @email,
       @authors,
       @description,
diff --git a/test/rubygems/test_gem_commands_build_command.rb b/test/rubygems/test_gem_commands_build_command.rb
index f7c92ebd7e04..05fe788bc561 100644
--- a/test/rubygems/test_gem_commands_build_command.rb
+++ b/test/rubygems/test_gem_commands_build_command.rb
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ def setup
     end
 
     @gem = util_spec 'some_gem' do |s|
-      s.rubyforge_project = 'example'
       s.license = 'AGPL-3.0'
       s.files = ['README.md']
     end
@@ -97,7 +96,6 @@ def test_execute_strict_without_warnings
 
   def test_execute_strict_with_warnings
     bad_gem = util_spec 'some_bad_gem' do |s|
-      s.rubyforge_project = 'example'
       s.files = ['README.md']
     end
 
diff --git a/test/rubygems/test_gem_remote_fetcher.rb b/test/rubygems/test_gem_remote_fetcher.rb
index 8315afc979c8..01a42128f4ac 100644
--- a/test/rubygems/test_gem_remote_fetcher.rb
+++ b/test/rubygems/test_gem_remote_fetcher.rb
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ class TestGemRemoteFetcher < Gem::TestCase
     author: Jim Weirich
     email: jim@weirichhouse.org
     homepage: http://rake.rubyforge.org
-    rubyforge_project: rake
     description: Rake is a Make-like program implemented in Ruby. Tasks and dependencies are specified in standard Ruby syntax.
     autorequire:
     default_executable: rake
diff --git a/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb b/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
index 5d0233ddc83f..94aecce0c7b6 100644
--- a/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
+++ b/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ def make_spec_c1
       s.extensions << 'ext/a/extconf.rb'
       s.test_file = 'test/suite.rb'
       s.requirements << 'A working computer'
-      s.rubyforge_project = 'example'
       s.license = 'MIT'
 
       s.add_dependency 'rake', '> 0.4'
@@ -80,7 +79,6 @@ def setup
       s.executable = 'exec'
       s.test_file = 'test/suite.rb'
       s.requirements << 'A working computer'
-      s.rubyforge_project = 'example'
       s.license = 'MIT'
 
       s.mark_version
@@ -701,7 +699,6 @@ def test_self_attribute_names
       required_ruby_version
       required_rubygems_version
       requirements
-      rubyforge_project
       rubygems_version
       signing_key
       specification_version
@@ -871,7 +868,6 @@ def test_self_from_yaml_cleans_up_Date_objects
 author: Austin Ziegler
 email: diff-lcs@halostatue.ca
 homepage: http://rubyforge.org/projects/ruwiki/
-rubyforge_project: ruwiki
 description: "Test"
 bindir: bin
 has_rdoc: true
@@ -1215,7 +1211,7 @@ def test_handles_private_null_type
 
     data = Marshal.load Gem::Util.inflate(Gem.read_binary(path))
 
-    assert_nil data.rubyforge_project
+    assert_nil data.default_executable
   end
 
   def test_initialize
@@ -2496,7 +2492,6 @@ def test_to_ruby_fancy
   s.homepage = "http://example.com".freeze
   s.licenses = ["MIT".freeze]
   s.requirements = ["A working computer".freeze]
-  s.rubyforge_project = "example".freeze
   s.rubygems_version = "#{Gem::VERSION}".freeze
   s.summary = "this is a summary".freeze
   s.test_files = ["test/suite.rb".freeze]