diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 988baca4617..c33cb0ff2d5 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ PATH
       marcel (~> 0.3.1)
     activesupport (6.1.0.alpha)
       concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.2)
-      i18n (>= 0.7, < 2)
+      i18n (>= 1.6, < 2)
       minitest (~> 5.1)
       tzinfo (~> 1.1)
       zeitwerk (~> 2.2)
diff --git a/activesupport/activesupport.gemspec b/activesupport/activesupport.gemspec
index 41683ef5218..e3fbcd972db 100644
--- a/activesupport/activesupport.gemspec
+++ b/activesupport/activesupport.gemspec
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   # NOTE: Please read our dependency guidelines before updating versions:
   # https://edgeguides.rubyonrails.org/security.html#dependency-management-and-cves
 
-  s.add_dependency "i18n",            ">= 0.7", "< 2"
+  s.add_dependency "i18n",            ">= 1.6", "< 2"
   s.add_dependency "tzinfo",          "~> 1.1"
   s.add_dependency "minitest",        "~> 5.1"
   s.add_dependency "concurrent-ruby", "~> 1.0", ">= 1.0.2"
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/i18n_railtie.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/i18n_railtie.rb
index 8faa93a3e41..562c0074cc9 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/i18n_railtie.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/i18n_railtie.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ module I18n
     config.i18n.load_path = []
     config.i18n.fallbacks = ActiveSupport::OrderedOptions.new
 
+    config.eager_load_namespaces << I18n
+
     # Set the i18n configuration after initialization since a lot of
     # configuration is still usually done in application initializers.
     config.after_initialize do |app|