diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb b/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb
index 4302b65367..9c1d24ceb2 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ if ENV["HOMEBREW_STACKPROF"]
 end
 
 raise "HOMEBREW_BREW_FILE was not exported! Please call bin/brew directly!" unless ENV["HOMEBREW_BREW_FILE"]
-raise "#{__FILE__} must not be loaded via `require`." if $PROGRAM_NAME != __FILE__
+if $PROGRAM_NAME != __FILE__ && !$PROGRAM_NAME.end_with?("/bin/ruby-prof")
+  raise "#{__FILE__} must not be loaded via `require`."
+end
 
 std_trap = trap("INT") { exit! 130 } # no backtrace thanks