diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/util.py b/django/contrib/admin/util.py
index 97858e688e..078adbe827 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/util.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/util.py
@@ -269,8 +269,9 @@ def lookup_field(name, obj, model_admin=None):
 
 def label_for_field(name, model, model_admin=None, return_attr=False):
     """
-    Returns a sensible label for a field name. The name can be a callable or the
-    name of an object attributes, as well as a genuine fields. If return_attr is
+    Returns a sensible label for a field name. The name can be a callable,
+    property (but not created with @property decorator) or the name of an
+    object's attribute, as well as a genuine fields. If return_attr is
     True, the resolved attribute (which could be a callable) is also returned.
     This will be None if (and only if) the name refers to a field.
     """
@@ -303,6 +304,10 @@ def label_for_field(name, model, model_admin=None, return_attr=False):
 
             if hasattr(attr, "short_description"):
                 label = attr.short_description
+            elif (isinstance(attr, property) and
+                  hasattr(attr, "fget") and
+                  hasattr(attr.fget, "short_description")):
+                label = attr.fget.short_description
             elif callable(attr):
                 if attr.__name__ == "<lambda>":
                     label = "--"
@@ -315,6 +320,7 @@ def label_for_field(name, model, model_admin=None, return_attr=False):
     else:
         return label
 
+
 def help_text_for_field(name, model):
     try:
         help_text = model._meta.get_field_by_name(name)[0].help_text
diff --git a/docs/ref/contrib/admin/index.txt b/docs/ref/contrib/admin/index.txt
index 90570f9576..0aec62f7b9 100644
--- a/docs/ref/contrib/admin/index.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/contrib/admin/index.txt
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ subclass::
               list_display = ('upper_case_name',)
 
               def upper_case_name(self, obj):
-                return ("%s %s" % (obj.first_name, obj.last_name)).upper()
+                  return ("%s %s" % (obj.first_name, obj.last_name)).upper()
               upper_case_name.short_description = 'Name'
 
     * A string representing an attribute on the model. This behaves almost
@@ -589,6 +589,27 @@ subclass::
       The above will tell Django to order by the ``first_name`` field when
       trying to sort by ``colored_first_name`` in the admin.
 
+    * Elements of ``list_display`` can also be properties. Please note however,
+      that due to the way properties work in Python, setting
+      ``short_description`` on a property is only possible when using the
+      ``property()`` function and **not** with the ``@property`` decorator.
+
+      For example::
+
+          class Person(object):
+              first_name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
+              last_name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
+
+              def my_property(self):
+                  return self.first_name + ' ' + self.last_name
+              my_property.short_description = "Full name of the person"
+
+              full_name = property(my_property)
+
+          class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
+              list_display = ('full_name',)
+
+
     * .. versionadded:: 1.6
 
       The field names in ``list_display`` will also appear as CSS classes in
diff --git a/tests/admin_util/tests.py b/tests/admin_util/tests.py
index 7898f200b5..35b7681cbb 100644
--- a/tests/admin_util/tests.py
+++ b/tests/admin_util/tests.py
@@ -236,6 +236,20 @@ class UtilTests(unittest.TestCase):
             ("not Really the Model", MockModelAdmin.test_from_model)
         )
 
+    def test_label_for_property(self):
+        # NOTE: cannot use @property decorator, because of
+        # AttributeError: 'property' object has no attribute 'short_description'
+        class MockModelAdmin(object):
+            def my_property(self):
+                return "this if from property"
+            my_property.short_description = 'property short description'
+            test_from_property = property(my_property)
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            label_for_field("test_from_property", Article, model_admin=MockModelAdmin),
+            'property short description'
+        )
+
     def test_related_name(self):
         """
         Regression test for #13963