diff --git a/rules.module b/rules.module
index d2ff900..ebd0e61 100644
--- a/rules.module
+++ b/rules.module
@@ -4,11 +4,14 @@
  * @file Rules engine module
  */
 
+// Include our hook implementations early, as they can be called even before
+// hook_init().
+require_once 'modules/events.inc';
+
 /**
  * Implements hook_init().
  */
 function rules_init() {
-  module_load_include('inc', 'rules', 'modules/events');
   rules_invoke_event('init');
 }
 
diff --git a/rules.rules.inc b/rules.rules.inc
index fcd3c94..3beb76e 100644
--- a/rules.rules.inc
+++ b/rules.rules.inc
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
  */
 foreach (rules_core_modules() as $module) {
   module_load_include('inc', 'rules', "modules/$module.rules");
-  module_load_include('inc', 'rules', 'modules/events');
 }
 
 /**