diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f2dbe9d9..1560ff9f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+* Add current directory to `$LOAD_PATH` only when `--require` option is used (#117).
+
 ## racecar v0.5.0
 
 * Add support for manually sending heartbeats with `heartbeat` (#105).
diff --git a/exe/racecar b/exe/racecar
index 30196514..7e0fc0f1 100755
--- a/exe/racecar
+++ b/exe/racecar
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 require "racecar"
 require "racecar/cli"
 
-$LOAD_PATH.unshift(Dir.pwd)
-
 begin
   Racecar::Cli.main(ARGV)
 rescue SignalException => e
diff --git a/lib/racecar/cli.rb b/lib/racecar/cli.rb
index e7ca2df2..bbeed404 100644
--- a/lib/racecar/cli.rb
+++ b/lib/racecar/cli.rb
@@ -94,10 +94,14 @@ def daemonize!
     end
 
     def build_parser
+      load_path_modified = false
+
       OptionParser.new do |opts|
         opts.banner = "Usage: racecar MyConsumer [options]"
 
         opts.on("-r", "--require STRING", "Require a library before starting the consumer") do |lib|
+          $LOAD_PATH.unshift(Dir.pwd) unless load_path_modified
+          load_path_modified = true
           require lib
         end