diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/media/css/global.css b/django/contrib/admin/media/css/global.css
index 1770040512..bc3d54fbb0 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/media/css/global.css
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/media/css/global.css
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@ td ul.errorlist li { margin:0 !important; }
 .error input, .error select { border:1px solid red; }
 div.system-message { background: #ffc; margin: 10px; padding: 6px 8px; font-size: .8em; }
 div.system-message p.system-message-title { padding:4px 5px 4px 25px; margin:0; color:red; background:#ffc url(../img/admin/icon_error.gif) 5px .3em no-repeat; }
+.description { font-size:12px; padding:5px 0 0 12px; }
 
 /* ACTION ICONS */
 .addlink { padding-left:12px; background:url(../img/admin/icon_addlink.gif) 0 .2em no-repeat; }
diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/change_form.html b/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/change_form.html
index f3a2516934..54bed12627 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/change_form.html
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/change_form.html
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 {% for bound_field_set in bound_field_sets %}
    <fieldset class="module aligned {{ bound_field_set.classes }}">
     {% if bound_field_set.name %}<h2>{{ bound_field_set.name }}</h2>{% endif %}
+    {% if bound_field_set.description %}<div class="description">{{ bound_field_set.description }}</div>{% endif %}
     {% for bound_field_line in bound_field_set %}
         {% admin_field_line bound_field_line %}
         {% for bound_field in bound_field_line %}
diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py b/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
index b271af708a..8e97f54aca 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ class AdminBoundFieldSet(object):
     def __init__(self, field_set, field_mapping, original):
         self.name = field_set.name
         self.classes = field_set.classes
+        self.description = field_set.description
         self.bound_field_lines = [field_line.bind(field_mapping, original, AdminBoundFieldLine) for field_line in field_set]
 
     def __iter__(self):
diff --git a/django/db/models/options.py b/django/db/models/options.py
index 8e047dc2db..dc0623ff4c 100644
--- a/django/db/models/options.py
+++ b/django/db/models/options.py
@@ -218,7 +218,9 @@ class AdminOptions:
         for fieldset in field_struct:
             fs_options = fieldset[1]
             classes = fs_options.get('classes', ())
-            new_fieldset_list.append(AdminFieldSet(fieldset[0], classes, opts.get_field, fs_options['fields']))
+            description = fs_options.get('description', '')
+            new_fieldset_list.append(AdminFieldSet(fieldset[0], classes, 
+                opts.get_field, fs_options['fields'], description))
         return new_fieldset_list
 
     def contribute_to_class(self, cls, name):
@@ -227,10 +229,11 @@ class AdminOptions:
         self.manager.model = cls
 
 class AdminFieldSet(object):
-    def __init__(self, name, classes, field_locator_func, line_specs):
+    def __init__(self, name, classes, field_locator_func, line_specs, description):
         self.name = name
         self.field_lines = [AdminFieldLine(field_locator_func, line_spec) for line_spec in line_specs]
         self.classes = classes
+        self.description = description
 
     def __repr__(self):
          return "FieldSet: (%s, %s)" % (self.name, self.field_lines)
diff --git a/docs/model-api.txt b/docs/model-api.txt
index 02c39bb3ec..b47b6cf054 100644
--- a/docs/model-api.txt
+++ b/docs/model-api.txt
@@ -855,6 +855,12 @@ object, which takes the following parameters. All are optional.
             "click to expand" link.  Fieldsets with the ``wide`` style will be
             given extra horizontal space.
 
+        ``description``
+            Optional extra text to be displayed at the top of each fieldset,
+            underneath the heading of the fieldset.  It is used verbatim,
+            so you can use any HTML and you must escape any special HTML
+            characters (such as ampersand) yourself.
+
     For example (taken from the ``django.contrib.flatpages`` model)::
 
         fields = (