diff --git a/docs/install.txt b/docs/install.txt
index 9300c7f0f8..173f4941ee 100644
--- a/docs/install.txt
+++ b/docs/install.txt
@@ -67,6 +67,16 @@ installed.
 
 * If you're using Oracle, you'll need cx_Oracle_, version 4.3.1 or higher.
 
+If you plan to use Django's ``manage.py syncdb`` command to
+automatically create database tables for your models, you'll need to
+ensure that Django has permission to create tables in the database
+you're using; if you plan to manually create the tables, you can
+simply grant Django ``SELECT``, ``INSERT``, ``UPDATE`` and ``DELETE``
+permissions. Django does not issue ``ALTER TABLE`` statements, and so
+will not require permission to do so. If you will be using Django's
+`testing framework`_ with data fixtures, Django will need permission
+to create a temporary test database.
+
 .. _PostgreSQL: http://www.postgresql.org/
 .. _MySQL: http://www.mysql.com/
 .. _Django's ticket system: http://code.djangoproject.com/report/1
@@ -78,6 +88,7 @@ installed.
 .. _MySQL backend: ../databases/
 .. _cx_Oracle: http://www.python.net/crew/atuining/cx_Oracle/
 .. _Oracle: http://www.oracle.com/
+.. _testing framework: ../testing/
 
 Remove any old versions of Django
 =================================
diff --git a/docs/testing.txt b/docs/testing.txt
index e15abd50d5..04c999cda8 100644
--- a/docs/testing.txt
+++ b/docs/testing.txt
@@ -137,12 +137,14 @@ When you `run your tests`_, the test runner will find this docstring, notice
 that portions of it look like an interactive Python session, and execute those
 lines while checking that the results match.
 
-In the case of model tests, note that the test runner takes care of creating
-its own test database. That is, any test that accesses a database -- by
-creating and saving model instances, for example -- will not affect your
-production database. Each doctest begins with a "blank slate" -- a fresh
-database containing an empty table for each model. (See the section on
-fixtures, below, for more on this.)
+In the case of model tests, note that the test runner takes care of
+creating its own test database. That is, any test that accesses a
+database -- by creating and saving model instances, for example --
+will not affect your production database. Each doctest begins with a
+"blank slate" -- a fresh database containing an empty table for each
+model. (See the section on fixtures, below, for more on this.) Note
+that to use this feature, the database user Django is connecting as
+must have ``CREATE DATABASE`` rights.
 
 For more details about how doctest works, see the `standard library
 documentation for doctest`_