diff --git a/django/conf/global_settings.py b/django/conf/global_settings.py
index 6be789a853..3917d40943 100644
--- a/django/conf/global_settings.py
+++ b/django/conf/global_settings.py
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ SESSION_COOKIE_PATH = '/'                               # The path of the sessio
 SESSION_SAVE_EVERY_REQUEST = False                      # Whether to save the session data on every request.
 SESSION_EXPIRE_AT_BROWSER_CLOSE = False                 # Whether sessions expire when a user closes his browser.
 SESSION_ENGINE = 'django.contrib.sessions.backends.db'  # The module to store session data
-SESSION_FILE_PATH = '/tmp/'                             # Directory to store session files if using the file session module
+SESSION_FILE_PATH = None                                # Directory to store session files if using the file session module. If set to None the backend will use a sensible default.
 
 #########
 # CACHE #
diff --git a/django/contrib/sessions/backends/file.py b/django/contrib/sessions/backends/file.py
index cd3e3d9c75..d65c81c101 100644
--- a/django/contrib/sessions/backends/file.py
+++ b/django/contrib/sessions/backends/file.py
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ class SessionStore(SessionBase):
     Implements a file based session store.
     """
     def __init__(self, session_key=None):
-        self.storage_path = getattr(settings, "SESSION_FILE_PATH", tempfile.gettempdir())
+        self.storage_path = getattr(settings, "SESSION_FILE_PATH", None)
+        if not self.storage_path:
+            self.storage_path = tempfile.gettempdir()
 
         # Make sure the storage path is valid.
         if not os.path.isdir(self.storage_path):
diff --git a/docs/sessions.txt b/docs/sessions.txt
index 6355524d2e..d8bac5b8d4 100644
--- a/docs/sessions.txt
+++ b/docs/sessions.txt
@@ -48,10 +48,10 @@ Using file-based sessions
 To use file-based sessions, set the ``SESSION_ENGINE`` setting to
 ``"django.contrib.sessions.backends.file"``.
 
-You might also want to set the ``SESSION_FILE_PATH`` setting (which
-defaults to ``/tmp``) to control where Django stores session files. Be
-sure to check that your Web server has permissions to read and write to
-this location.
+You might also want to set the ``SESSION_FILE_PATH`` setting (which defaults
+to output from ``tempfile.gettempdir()``, most likely  ``/tmp``) to control
+where Django stores session files. Be sure to check that your Web server has
+permissions to read and write to this location.
 
 Using cache-based sessions
 --------------------------