diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index cc90e6f..0db5abd 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -1,31 +1,37 @@
 require 'puppetlabs_spec_helper/rake_tasks'
 require 'puppet-lint/tasks/puppet-lint'
 require 'puppet-syntax/tasks/puppet-syntax'
 
+# Optional gems, used for development
+begin
+  require 'puppet_blacksmith/rake_tasks'
+rescue LoadError
+end
+
 # workaround for https://github.com/rodjek/puppet-lint/issues/331
 Rake::Task[:lint].clear
 
 PuppetLint.configuration.relative = true
 PuppetLint.configuration.send("disable_80chars")
 PuppetLint.configuration.log_format = "%{path}:%{linenumber}:%{check}:%{KIND}:%{message}"
 PuppetLint.configuration.fail_on_warnings = true
 
 exclude_paths = [
   'pkg/**/*',
   'vendor/**/*',
   'spec/**/*',
 ]
 PuppetLint.configuration.ignore_paths = exclude_paths
 PuppetSyntax.exclude_paths = exclude_paths
 
 task :metadata do
   sh 'metadata-json-lint metadata.json'
 end
 
 desc 'Run syntax, lint, and spec tests.'
 task :test => [
   :syntax,
   :lint,
   :spec,
   :metadata,
 ]