diff --git a/django/db/__init__.py b/django/db/__init__.py
index 5fee5004d1..03bf198d68 100644
--- a/django/db/__init__.py
+++ b/django/db/__init__.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ except ImportError, e:
     from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
     import os
     backend_dir = os.path.join(__path__[0], 'backends')
-    available_backends = [f for f in os.listdir(backend_dir) if not f.startswith('_') and not f.startswith('.')]
+    available_backends = [f for f in os.listdir(backend_dir) if not f.startswith('_') and not f.startswith('.') and not f.endswith('.py') and not f.endswith('.pyc')]
     available_backends.sort()
     raise ImproperlyConfigured, "Could not load database backend: %s. Is your DATABASE_ENGINE setting (currently, %r) spelled correctly? Available options are: %s" % \
         (e, DATABASE_ENGINE, ", ".join(map(repr, available_backends)))