diff --git a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
index 5c8d749895..e205092177 100644
--- a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
+++ b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
@@ -5,11 +5,6 @@ Unit tests
 Django comes with a test suite of its own, in the ``tests`` directory of the
 code base. It's our policy to make sure all tests pass at all times.
 
-The tests cover:
-
-* Models, the database API and everything else in core Django core (``tests/``),
-* :ref:`contrib-apps` (``django/contrib/<app>/tests`` or ``tests/<app>_...``).
-
 We appreciate any and all contributions to the test suite!
 
 The Django tests all use the testing infrastructure that ships with Django for
@@ -108,8 +103,7 @@ internationalization, type:
    $ ./runtests.py --settings=path.to.settings generic_relations i18n
 
 How do you find out the names of individual tests? Look in ``tests/`` — each
-directory name there is the name of a test. Contrib app names are also valid
-test names.
+directory name there is the name of a test.
 
 If you just want to run a particular class of tests, you can specify a list of
 paths to individual test classes. For example, to run the ``TranslationTests``
@@ -221,18 +215,9 @@ and also excludes several directories not relevant to the results
 Contrib apps
 ------------
 
-Tests for contrib apps go in their respective directories under
-``django/contrib``, in a ``tests.py`` file. You can split the tests over
-multiple modules by using a ``tests`` directory in the normal Python way.
-
-If you have URLs that need to be mapped, put them in ``tests/urls.py``.
-
-To run tests for just one contrib app (e.g. ``auth``), use the same
-method as above:
-
-.. code-block:: bash
-
-   $ ./runtests.py --settings=settings django.contrib.auth
+Tests for contrib apps can be found in the ``tests/`` directory, typically
+under ``<app_name>_tests``. For example, tests for ``contrib.auth`` are located
+in ``tests/auth_tests``.
 
 .. _troubleshooting-unit-tests:
 
diff --git a/tests/runtests.py b/tests/runtests.py
index a24b99f17a..b1cbed44ac 100755
--- a/tests/runtests.py
+++ b/tests/runtests.py
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import warnings
 from argparse import ArgumentParser
 
 import django
-from django import contrib
 from django.apps import apps
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import connection
@@ -24,9 +23,6 @@ from django.utils.deprecation import (
 warnings.simplefilter("error", RemovedInDjango20Warning)
 warnings.simplefilter("error", RemovedInDjango21Warning)
 
-CONTRIB_MODULE_PATH = 'django.contrib'
-
-CONTRIB_DIR = os.path.dirname(upath(contrib.__file__))
 RUNTESTS_DIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(upath(__file__)))
 
 TEMPLATE_DIR = os.path.join(RUNTESTS_DIR, 'templates')
@@ -74,7 +70,6 @@ def get_test_modules():
     modules = []
     discovery_paths = [
         (None, RUNTESTS_DIR),
-        (CONTRIB_MODULE_PATH, CONTRIB_DIR)
     ]
     # GIS tests are in nested apps
     if connection.features.gis_enabled:
@@ -177,11 +172,7 @@ def setup(verbosity, test_labels):
     # Reduce given test labels to just the app module path
     test_labels_set = set()
     for label in test_labels:
-        bits = label.split('.')
-        if bits[:2] == ['django', 'contrib']:
-            bits = bits[:3]
-        else:
-            bits = bits[:1]
+        bits = label.split('.')[:1]
         test_labels_set.add('.'.join(bits))
 
     installed_app_names = set(get_installed())