diff --git a/django/test/client.py b/django/test/client.py
index cceed8d9f6..08e3ff6b71 100644
--- a/django/test/client.py
+++ b/django/test/client.py
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ class ClientHandler(BaseHandler):
     Uses the WSGI interface to compose requests, but returns
     the raw HttpResponse object
     """
+    def __init__(self, enforce_csrf_checks=True, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.enforce_csrf_checks = enforce_csrf_checks
+        super(ClientHandler, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
     def __call__(self, environ):
         from django.conf import settings
         from django.core import signals
@@ -71,7 +75,7 @@ class ClientHandler(BaseHandler):
             # CsrfViewMiddleware.  This makes life easier, and is probably
             # required for backwards compatibility with external tests against
             # admin views.
-            request._dont_enforce_csrf_checks = True
+            request._dont_enforce_csrf_checks = not self.enforce_csrf_checks
             response = self.get_response(request)
 
             # Apply response middleware.
@@ -169,8 +173,8 @@ class Client(object):
     contexts and templates produced by a view, rather than the
     HTML rendered to the end-user.
     """
-    def __init__(self, **defaults):
-        self.handler = ClientHandler()
+    def __init__(self, enforce_csrf_checks=False, **defaults):
+        self.handler = ClientHandler(enforce_csrf_checks)
         self.defaults = defaults
         self.cookies = SimpleCookie()
         self.exc_info = None
diff --git a/docs/ref/contrib/csrf.txt b/docs/ref/contrib/csrf.txt
index 979c221581..c32dd73986 100644
--- a/docs/ref/contrib/csrf.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/contrib/csrf.txt
@@ -398,6 +398,13 @@ set a flag on requests which relaxes the middleware and the ``csrf_protect``
 decorator so that they no longer rejects requests.  In every other respect
 (e.g. sending cookies etc.), they behave the same.
 
+If, for some reason, you *want* the test client to perform CSRF
+checks, you can create an instance of the test client that enforces
+CSRF checks::
+
+    >>> from django.test import Client
+    >>> csrf_client = Client(enforce_csrf_checks=True)
+
 Limitations
 ===========
 
diff --git a/docs/topics/testing.txt b/docs/topics/testing.txt
index 9c1d8b28fd..673fe08126 100644
--- a/docs/topics/testing.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/testing.txt
@@ -572,6 +572,19 @@ Note a few important things about how the test client works:
       This black magic (essentially a patching of Django's template system in
       memory) only happens during test running.
 
+    * By default, the test client will disable any CSRF checks
+      performed by your site.
+
+      If, for some reason, you *want* the test client to perform CSRF
+      checks, you can create an instance of the test client that
+      enforces CSRF checks. To do this, pass in the
+      ``enforce_csrf_checks`` argument when you construct your
+      client::
+
+          >>> from django.test import Client
+          >>> csrf_client = Client(enforce_csrf_checks=True)
+
+
 .. _urllib: http://docs.python.org/library/urllib.html
 .. _urllib2: http://docs.python.org/library/urllib2.html
 
diff --git a/tests/modeltests/test_client/models.py b/tests/modeltests/test_client/models.py
index c51323d843..30520082da 100644
--- a/tests/modeltests/test_client/models.py
+++ b/tests/modeltests/test_client/models.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ rather than the HTML rendered to the end-user.
 
 """
 from django.test import Client, TestCase
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core import mail
 
 class ClientTest(TestCase):
@@ -433,3 +434,26 @@ class ClientTest(TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(mail.outbox[1].from_email, 'from@example.com')
         self.assertEqual(mail.outbox[1].to[0], 'second@example.com')
         self.assertEqual(mail.outbox[1].to[1], 'third@example.com')
+
+class CSRFEnabledClientTests(TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        # Enable the CSRF middleware for this test
+        self.old_MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = settings.MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES
+        csrf_middleware_class = 'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware'
+        if csrf_middleware_class not in settings.MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES:
+            settings.MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES += (csrf_middleware_class,)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        settings.MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = self.old_MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES
+
+    def test_csrf_enabled_client(self):
+        "A client can be instantiated with CSRF checks enabled"
+        csrf_client = Client(enforce_csrf_checks=True)
+
+        # The normal client allows the post
+        response = self.client.post('/test_client/post_view/', {})
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+
+        # The CSRF-enabled client rejects it
+        response = csrf_client.post('/test_client/post_view/', {})
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 403)