Cannot pristine #{gem_name}. Gem is locally overridden.

Error message

Cannot pristine #{gem_name}. Gem is locally overridden.

What it means

Error "Cannot pristine #{gem_name}. Gem is locally overridden." thrown in ruby/rubygems.

Source

Thrown at lib/bundler/cli/pristine.rb:35

        installed_specs = definition.specs.reject do |spec|
          next if spec.name == "bundler" # Source::Rubygems doesn't install bundler
          next if !@gems.empty? && !@gems.include?(spec.name)

          gem_name = "#{spec.name} (#{spec.version}#{spec.git_version})"
          gem_name += " (#{spec.platform})" if !spec.platform.nil? && spec.platform != Gem::Platform::RUBY

          case source = spec.source
          when Source::Rubygems
            cached_gem = spec.cache_file
            unless File.exist?(cached_gem)
              Bundler.ui.error("Failed to pristine #{gem_name}. Cached gem #{cached_gem} does not exist.")
              next
            end

            FileUtils.rm_rf spec.full_gem_path
          when Source::Git
            if source.local?
              Bundler.ui.warn("Cannot pristine #{gem_name}. Gem is locally overridden.")
              next
            end

            source.remote!
            if extension_cache_path = source.extension_cache_path(spec)
              FileUtils.rm_rf extension_cache_path
            end
            FileUtils.rm_rf spec.extension_dir
            FileUtils.rm_rf spec.full_gem_path

            next if git_sources.include?(source)
            git_sources << source
          else
            Bundler.ui.warn("Cannot pristine #{gem_name}. Gem is sourced from local path.")
            next
          end

          true

View on GitHub (pinned to 86cbb817a3)

Solutions

Remove the local override: `bundle config unset local.<gem_name>`, then run `bundle pristine` again

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/bundler/cli/pristine.rb:35 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ruby/rubygems@86cbb817a3 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0efbcd061ba20901. Report an issue: GitHub.