diff --git a/django/conf/global_settings.py b/django/conf/global_settings.py
index 86f59f0495..b23b53cce1 100644
--- a/django/conf/global_settings.py
+++ b/django/conf/global_settings.py
@@ -390,6 +390,8 @@ URL_VALIDATOR_USER_AGENT = "Django/%s (http://www.djangoproject.com)" % get_vers
 DEFAULT_TABLESPACE = ''
 DEFAULT_INDEX_TABLESPACE = ''
 
+USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST = False
+
 ##############
 # MIDDLEWARE #
 ##############
diff --git a/django/http/__init__.py b/django/http/__init__.py
index b9e4470d87..4a5ba3e39f 100644
--- a/django/http/__init__.py
+++ b/django/http/__init__.py
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ class HttpRequest(object):
     def get_host(self):
         """Returns the HTTP host using the environment or request headers."""
         # We try three options, in order of decreasing preference.
-        if 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST' in self.META:
+        if settings.USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST and (
+            'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST' in self.META):
             host = self.META['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST']
         elif 'HTTP_HOST' in self.META:
             host = self.META['HTTP_HOST']
diff --git a/docs/ref/request-response.txt b/docs/ref/request-response.txt
index fd01cf9138..7837b6bede 100644
--- a/docs/ref/request-response.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/request-response.txt
@@ -185,10 +185,11 @@ Methods
 
 .. method:: HttpRequest.get_host()
 
-    Returns the originating host of the request using information from the
-    ``HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST`` and ``HTTP_HOST`` headers (in that order). If
-    they don't provide a value, the method uses a combination of
-    ``SERVER_NAME`` and ``SERVER_PORT`` as detailed in `PEP 333`_.
+    Returns the originating host of the request using information from
+    the ``HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST`` (if enabled in the settings) and ``HTTP_HOST``
+    headers (in that order). If they don't provide a value, the method
+    uses a combination of ``SERVER_NAME`` and ``SERVER_PORT`` as
+    detailed in :pep:`3333`.
 
     .. _PEP 333: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0333/
 
diff --git a/docs/ref/settings.txt b/docs/ref/settings.txt
index 33011c08e9..43b56d7844 100644
--- a/docs/ref/settings.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/settings.txt
@@ -1698,6 +1698,19 @@ and ``NUMBER_GROUPING`` from current locale, to format the number.
 
 See also ``THOUSAND_SEPARATOR`` and ``NUMBER_GROUPING``.
 
+.. setting:: USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST
+
+USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST
+--------------------
+
+.. versionadded:: 1.3.1
+
+Default: ``False``
+
+A boolean that specifies whether to use the X-Forwarded-Host header in
+preference to the Host header. This should only be enabled if a proxy
+which sets this header is in use.
+
 .. setting:: YEAR_MONTH_FORMAT
 
 YEAR_MONTH_FORMAT
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/requests/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/requests/tests.py
index 556d61e2ce..acae5f479b 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/requests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/requests/tests.py
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@ from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 import time
 import unittest
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.http import HttpRequest, HttpResponse, parse_cookie
 from django.core.handlers.wsgi import WSGIRequest
 from django.core.handlers.modpython import ModPythonRequest
 from django.utils.http import cookie_date
 
+
 class RequestsTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_httprequest(self):
@@ -57,3 +59,91 @@ class RequestsTests(unittest.TestCase):
         request.path = ''
         self.assertEqual(request.build_absolute_uri(location="/path/with:colons"),
             'http://www.example.com/path/with:colons')
+
+    def test_http_get_host(self):
+        old_USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST = settings.USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST
+        try:
+            settings.USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST = False
+
+            # Check if X_FORWARDED_HOST is provided.
+            request = HttpRequest()
+            request.META = {
+                u'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST': u'forward.com',
+                u'HTTP_HOST': u'example.com',
+                u'SERVER_NAME': u'internal.com',
+                u'SERVER_PORT': 80,
+            }
+            # X_FORWARDED_HOST is ignored.
+            self.assertEqual(request.get_host(), 'example.com')
+
+            # Check if X_FORWARDED_HOST isn't provided.
+            request = HttpRequest()
+            request.META = {
+                u'HTTP_HOST': u'example.com',
+                u'SERVER_NAME': u'internal.com',
+                u'SERVER_PORT': 80,
+            }
+            self.assertEqual(request.get_host(), 'example.com')
+
+            # Check if HTTP_HOST isn't provided.
+            request = HttpRequest()
+            request.META = {
+                u'SERVER_NAME': u'internal.com',
+                u'SERVER_PORT': 80,
+            }
+            self.assertEqual(request.get_host(), 'internal.com')
+
+            # Check if HTTP_HOST isn't provided, and we're on a nonstandard port
+            request = HttpRequest()
+            request.META = {
+                u'SERVER_NAME': u'internal.com',
+                u'SERVER_PORT': 8042,
+            }
+            self.assertEqual(request.get_host(), 'internal.com:8042')
+
+        finally:
+            settings.USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST = old_USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST
+
+    def test_http_get_host_with_x_forwarded_host(self):
+        old_USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST = settings.USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST
+        try:
+            settings.USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST = True
+
+            # Check if X_FORWARDED_HOST is provided.
+            request = HttpRequest()
+            request.META = {
+                u'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST': u'forward.com',
+                u'HTTP_HOST': u'example.com',
+                u'SERVER_NAME': u'internal.com',
+                u'SERVER_PORT': 80,
+            }
+            # X_FORWARDED_HOST is obeyed.
+            self.assertEqual(request.get_host(), 'forward.com')
+
+            # Check if X_FORWARDED_HOST isn't provided.
+            request = HttpRequest()
+            request.META = {
+                u'HTTP_HOST': u'example.com',
+                u'SERVER_NAME': u'internal.com',
+                u'SERVER_PORT': 80,
+            }
+            self.assertEqual(request.get_host(), 'example.com')
+
+            # Check if HTTP_HOST isn't provided.
+            request = HttpRequest()
+            request.META = {
+                u'SERVER_NAME': u'internal.com',
+                u'SERVER_PORT': 80,
+            }
+            self.assertEqual(request.get_host(), 'internal.com')
+
+            # Check if HTTP_HOST isn't provided, and we're on a nonstandard port
+            request = HttpRequest()
+            request.META = {
+                u'SERVER_NAME': u'internal.com',
+                u'SERVER_PORT': 8042,
+            }
+            self.assertEqual(request.get_host(), 'internal.com:8042')
+
+        finally:
+            settings.USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST = old_USE_X_FORWARDED_HOST