diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/tests.py b/django/contrib/admin/tests.py
index 30d63e4486..badf45b580 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/tests.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/tests.py
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ class AdminSeleniumWebDriverTestCase(LiveServerTestCase):
 
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
-        if os.environ.get('DJANGO_SKIP_SELENIUM_TESTS', False):
-            raise SkipTest('Selenium tests skipped by explicit request')
+        if not os.environ.get('DJANGO_SELENIUM_TESTS', False):
+            raise SkipTest('Selenium tests not requested')
         try:
             cls.selenium = import_by_path(cls.webdriver_class)()
         except Exception as e:
diff --git a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
index 59f4c97c92..bd1aa5a96f 100644
--- a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
+++ b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
@@ -128,21 +128,12 @@ Running the Selenium tests
 
 Some admin tests require Selenium 2, Firefox and Python >= 2.6 to work via a
 real Web browser. To allow those tests to run and not be skipped, you must
-install the selenium_ package (version > 2.13) into your Python path.
-
-Then, run the tests normally, for example:
+install the selenium_ package (version > 2.13) into your Python path and run
+the tests with the ``--selenium`` option:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
-    ./runtests.py --settings=test_sqlite admin_inlines
-
-If you have Selenium installed but for some reason don't want to run these tests
-(for example to speed up the test suite), use the ``--skip-selenium`` option
-of the test runner.
-
-.. code-block:: bash
-
-    ./runtests.py --settings=test_sqlite --skip-selenium admin_inlines
+    ./runtests.py --settings=test_sqlite --selenium admin_inlines
 
 
 .. _running-unit-tests-dependencies:
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/views/tests/i18n.py b/tests/regressiontests/views/tests/i18n.py
index 206cf3d256..33ffab59f2 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/views/tests/i18n.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/views/tests/i18n.py
@@ -177,10 +177,10 @@ class JsI18NTestsMultiPackage(TestCase):
                     javascript_quote('este texto de app3 debe ser traducido'))
 
 
-skip_selenium = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SKIP_SELENIUM_TESTS', False)
+skip_selenium = not os.environ.get('DJANGO_SELENIUM_TESTS', False)
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf(skip_selenium, 'Selenium tests skipped by explicit request')
+@unittest.skipIf(skip_selenium, 'Selenium tests not requested')
 @unittest.skipUnless(firefox, 'Selenium not installed')
 class JavascriptI18nTests(LiveServerTestCase):
     urls = 'regressiontests.views.urls'
diff --git a/tests/runtests.py b/tests/runtests.py
index f2051a8ea6..800a3f0b93 100755
--- a/tests/runtests.py
+++ b/tests/runtests.py
@@ -302,10 +302,9 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
              'LiveServerTestCase) is expected to run from. The default value '
              'is localhost:8081.')
     parser.add_option(
-        '--skip-selenium', action='store_true', dest='skip_selenium',
+        '--selenium', action='store_true', dest='selenium',
         default=False,
-        help='Skip running Selenium tests even it Selenium itself is '
-             'installed. By default these tests are not skipped.')
+        help='Run the Selenium tests as well (if Selenium is installed)')
     options, args = parser.parse_args()
     if options.settings:
         os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = options.settings
@@ -318,8 +317,8 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     if options.liveserver is not None:
         os.environ['DJANGO_LIVE_TEST_SERVER_ADDRESS'] = options.liveserver
 
-    if options.skip_selenium:
-        os.environ['DJANGO_SKIP_SELENIUM_TESTS'] = '1'
+    if options.selenium:
+        os.environ['DJANGO_SELENIUM_TESTS'] = '1'
 
     if options.bisect:
         bisect_tests(options.bisect, options, args)