Argonautes and their small-RNA cofactors form the core effectors of ancient and diverse gene-silencing mechanisms whose roles include regulation of gene expression and defense against foreign genetic elements. Although Argonautes generally act within multisubunit complexes, what governs their assembly into these machineries is not well defined. Here, we show that loading of small RNAs onto Argonaute is a checkpoint for Argonaute's association with conserved GW-protein components of silencing complexes. We demonstrate that the Argonaute small interfering RNA chaperone (ARC) complex mediates loading of small RNAs onto Ago1 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe and that deletion of its subunits, or mutations in Ago1 that prevent small-RNA loading, abolish the assembly of the GW protein-containing RNA-induced transcriptional silencing (RITS) complex. Our studies uncover a mechanism that ensures that Argonaute loading precedes RITS assembly and thereby averts the formation of inert and potentially deleterious complexes. 