diff --git a/lib/jekyll.rb b/lib/jekyll.rb
index bf286f1e..caa45e50 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll.rb
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ require 'rubygems'
 # stdlib
 require 'fileutils'
 require 'time'
-require 'safe_yaml'
+require 'safe_yaml/load'
 require 'English'
 require 'pathname'
 
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb b/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
index f5e10fe0..afa43d30 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ module Jekyll
       when '.toml'
         TOML.load_file(filename)
       when /\.y(a)?ml/
-        YAML.safe_load_file(filename)
+        SafeYAML.load_file(filename)
       else
         raise ArgumentError, "No parser for '#{filename}' is available. Use a .toml or .y(a)ml file instead."
       end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
index ea0bcbbf..941312f3 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ module Jekyll
                                  merged_file_read_opts(opts))
         if self.content =~ /\A(---\s*\n.*?\n?)^(---\s*$\n?)/m
           self.content = $POSTMATCH
-          self.data = YAML.safe_load($1)
+          self.data = SafeYAML.load($1)
         end
       rescue SyntaxError => e
         puts "YAML Exception reading #{File.join(base, name)}: #{e.message}"
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/site.rb b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
index d201f025..7457ca6d 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/site.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ module Jekyll
         next if File.symlink?(path) && self.safe
 
         key = sanitize_filename(File.basename(entry, '.*'))
-        self.data[key] = YAML.safe_load_file(path)
+        self.data[key] = SafeYAML.load_file(path)
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/test/test_configuration.rb b/test/test_configuration.rb
index 36e6cb1d..a96141fa 100644
--- a/test/test_configuration.rb
+++ b/test/test_configuration.rb
@@ -106,31 +106,36 @@ class TestConfiguration < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
 
     should "fire warning with no _config.yml" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@path) { raise SystemCallError, "No such file or directory - #{@path}" }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@path) { raise SystemCallError, "No such file or directory - #{@path}" }
       mock($stderr).puts("Configuration file: none".yellow)
       assert_equal Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS, Jekyll.configuration({})
     end
 
     should "load configuration as hash" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@path) { Hash.new }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@path) { Hash.new }
       mock($stdout).puts("Configuration file: #{@path}")
       assert_equal Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS, Jekyll.configuration({})
     end
 
     should "fire warning with bad config" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@path) { Array.new }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@path) { Array.new }
       mock($stderr).puts(("WARNING: ".rjust(20) + "Error reading configuration. Using defaults (and options).").yellow)
       mock($stderr).puts("Configuration file: (INVALID) #{@path}".yellow)
       assert_equal Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS, Jekyll.configuration({})
     end
 
     should "fire warning when user-specified config file isn't there" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@user_config) { raise SystemCallError, "No such file or directory - #{@user_config}" }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@user_config) { raise SystemCallError, "No such file or directory - #{@user_config}" }
       mock($stderr).puts(("Fatal: ".rjust(20) + "The configuration file '#{@user_config}' could not be found.").red)
       assert_raises LoadError do
         Jekyll.configuration({'config' => [@user_config]})
       end
     end
+
+    should "not clobber YAML.load to the dismay of other libraries" do
+      assert_equal :foo, YAML.load(':foo')
+      # as opposed to: assert_equal ':foo', SafeYAML.load(':foo')
+    end
   end
   context "loading config from external file" do
     setup do
@@ -143,19 +148,19 @@ class TestConfiguration < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
 
     should "load default config if no config_file is set" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@paths[:default]) { Hash.new }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@paths[:default]) { Hash.new }
       mock($stdout).puts("Configuration file: #{@paths[:default]}")
       assert_equal Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS, Jekyll.configuration({})
     end
 
     should "load different config if specified" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@paths[:other]) { {"baseurl" => "http://wahoo.dev"} }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@paths[:other]) { {"baseurl" => "http://wahoo.dev"} }
       mock($stdout).puts("Configuration file: #{@paths[:other]}")
       assert_equal Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS.deep_merge({ "baseurl" => "http://wahoo.dev" }), Jekyll.configuration({ "config" => @paths[:other] })
     end
 
     should "load default config if path passed is empty" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@paths[:default]) { Hash.new }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@paths[:default]) { Hash.new }
       mock($stdout).puts("Configuration file: #{@paths[:default]}")
       assert_equal Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS, Jekyll.configuration({ "config" => @paths[:empty] })
     end
@@ -167,8 +172,8 @@ class TestConfiguration < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
 
     should "load multiple config files" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@paths[:default]) { Hash.new }
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@paths[:other]) { Hash.new }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@paths[:default]) { Hash.new }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@paths[:other]) { Hash.new }
       mock(TOML).load_file(@paths[:toml]) { Hash.new }
       mock($stdout).puts("Configuration file: #{@paths[:default]}")
       mock($stdout).puts("Configuration file: #{@paths[:other]}")
@@ -177,8 +182,8 @@ class TestConfiguration < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
 
     should "load multiple config files and last config should win" do
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@paths[:default]) { {"baseurl" => "http://example.dev"} }
-      mock(YAML).safe_load_file(@paths[:other]) { {"baseurl" => "http://wahoo.dev"} }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@paths[:default]) { {"baseurl" => "http://example.dev"} }
+      mock(SafeYAML).load_file(@paths[:other]) { {"baseurl" => "http://wahoo.dev"} }
       mock($stdout).puts("Configuration file: #{@paths[:default]}")
       mock($stdout).puts("Configuration file: #{@paths[:other]}")
       assert_equal Jekyll::Configuration::DEFAULTS.deep_merge({ "baseurl" => "http://wahoo.dev" }), Jekyll.configuration({ "config" => [@paths[:default], @paths[:other]] })
diff --git a/test/test_site.rb b/test/test_site.rb
index 45921a7e..5e639f50 100644
--- a/test/test_site.rb
+++ b/test/test_site.rb
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ class TestSite < Test::Unit::TestCase
         site = Site.new(Jekyll.configuration)
         site.process
 
-        file_content = YAML.safe_load_file(File.join(source_dir, '_data', 'members.yaml'))
+        file_content = SafeYAML.load_file(File.join(source_dir, '_data', 'members.yaml'))
 
         assert_equal site.data['members'], file_content
         assert_equal site.site_payload['site']['data']['members'], file_content
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ class TestSite < Test::Unit::TestCase
         site = Site.new(Jekyll.configuration)
         site.process
 
-        file_content = YAML.safe_load_file(File.join(source_dir, '_data', 'languages.yml'))
+        file_content = SafeYAML.load_file(File.join(source_dir, '_data', 'languages.yml'))
 
         assert_equal site.data['languages'], file_content
         assert_equal site.site_payload['site']['data']['languages'], file_content
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ class TestSite < Test::Unit::TestCase
         site = Site.new(Jekyll.configuration.merge({'safe' => false}))
         site.process
 
-        file_content = YAML.safe_load_file(File.join(source_dir, '_data', 'products.yml'))
+        file_content = SafeYAML.load_file(File.join(source_dir, '_data', 'products.yml'))
 
         assert_equal site.data['products'], file_content
         assert_equal site.site_payload['site']['data']['products'], file_content