Whenever I load a .tex file, LaTeX-mode doesn't load and I get the error:

File mode specification error: (void-function TeX-latex-mode)

This happens when the only line in my .emacs is (load "auctex.el" nil t t)
I have verified this bug on two separate Linux systems using Emacs 24.4.1.
I have only had this problem with auctex 11.89.4 (which I installed from
http://elpa.gnu.org/packages/ using the emacs package manager).
I have also tested this with manually installed versions of 11.89 and 11.88
(which i installed from https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/auctex/) and both of
these versions work fine.

Caleb