diff --git a/django/db/backends/__init__.py b/django/db/backends/__init__.py
index cb17e1db61..09a33eebae 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/__init__.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/__init__.py
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper(object):
         self.connection = self.get_new_connection(conn_params)
         self.init_connection_state()
         if self.settings_dict['AUTOCOMMIT']:
-            self.set_autocommit()
+            self.set_autocommit(True)
         connection_created.send(sender=self.__class__, connection=self)
 
     def ensure_connection(self):
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseWrapper(object):
         if managed == self.autocommit:
             self.set_autocommit(not managed)
 
-    def set_autocommit(self, autocommit=True):
+    def set_autocommit(self, autocommit):
         """
         Enable or disable autocommit.
         """
diff --git a/django/db/backends/creation.py b/django/db/backends/creation.py
index c0d0a5958b..38c284d6d3 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/creation.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/creation.py
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseCreation(object):
         warnings.warn(
             "set_autocommit was moved from BaseDatabaseCreation to "
             "BaseDatabaseWrapper.", PendingDeprecationWarning, stacklevel=2)
-        return self.connection.set_autocommit()
+        return self.connection.set_autocommit(True)
 
     def sql_table_creation_suffix(self):
         """
diff --git a/django/db/transaction.py b/django/db/transaction.py
index be8981f968..3a4c3f2b8d 100644
--- a/django/db/transaction.py
+++ b/django/db/transaction.py
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def get_autocommit(using=None):
     """
     return get_connection(using).autocommit
 
-def set_autocommit(using=None, autocommit=True):
+def set_autocommit(autocommit, using=None):
     """
     Set the autocommit status of the connection.
     """
diff --git a/docs/topics/db/transactions.txt b/docs/topics/db/transactions.txt
index b8fc0d4efa..b8017e8bfa 100644
--- a/docs/topics/db/transactions.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/db/transactions.txt
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ database connection, if you need to.
 
 .. function:: get_autocommit(using=None)
 
-.. function:: set_autocommit(using=None, autocommit=True)
+.. function:: set_autocommit(autocommit, using=None)
 
 These functions take a ``using`` argument which should be the name of a
 database. If it isn't provided, Django uses the ``"default"`` database.
@@ -600,11 +600,11 @@ To disable autocommit temporarily, instead of::
 
 you should now use::
 
-    transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+    transaction.set_autocommit(False)
     try:
         # do stuff
     finally:
-        transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+        transaction.set_autocommit(True)
 
 To enable autocommit temporarily, instead of::
 
@@ -613,11 +613,11 @@ To enable autocommit temporarily, instead of::
 
 you should now use::
 
-    transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+    transaction.set_autocommit(True)
     try:
         # do stuff
     finally:
-        transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+        transaction.set_autocommit(False)
 
 Disabling transaction management
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/tests/backends/tests.py b/tests/backends/tests.py
index 51acbcb07f..c7f09013d4 100644
--- a/tests/backends/tests.py
+++ b/tests/backends/tests.py
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ class FkConstraintsTests(TransactionTestCase):
         """
         When constraint checks are disabled, should be able to write bad data without IntegrityErrors.
         """
-        transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+        transaction.set_autocommit(False)
         try:
             # Create an Article.
             models.Article.objects.create(headline="Test article", pub_date=datetime.datetime(2010, 9, 4), reporter=self.r)
@@ -538,13 +538,13 @@ class FkConstraintsTests(TransactionTestCase):
             finally:
                 transaction.rollback()
         finally:
-            transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+            transaction.set_autocommit(True)
 
     def test_disable_constraint_checks_context_manager(self):
         """
         When constraint checks are disabled (using context manager), should be able to write bad data without IntegrityErrors.
         """
-        transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+        transaction.set_autocommit(False)
         try:
             # Create an Article.
             models.Article.objects.create(headline="Test article", pub_date=datetime.datetime(2010, 9, 4), reporter=self.r)
@@ -559,14 +559,14 @@ class FkConstraintsTests(TransactionTestCase):
             finally:
                 transaction.rollback()
         finally:
-            transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+            transaction.set_autocommit(True)
 
     def test_check_constraints(self):
         """
         Constraint checks should raise an IntegrityError when bad data is in the DB.
         """
         try:
-            transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+            transaction.set_autocommit(False)
             # Create an Article.
             models.Article.objects.create(headline="Test article", pub_date=datetime.datetime(2010, 9, 4), reporter=self.r)
             # Retrive it from the DB
@@ -580,7 +580,7 @@ class FkConstraintsTests(TransactionTestCase):
             finally:
                 transaction.rollback()
         finally:
-            transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+            transaction.set_autocommit(True)
 
 
 class ThreadTests(TestCase):
diff --git a/tests/fixtures_model_package/tests.py b/tests/fixtures_model_package/tests.py
index 894a6c7fde..c250f647ce 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures_model_package/tests.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures_model_package/tests.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class SampleTestCase(TestCase):
 
 class TestNoInitialDataLoading(TransactionTestCase):
     def test_syncdb(self):
-        transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+        transaction.set_autocommit(False)
         try:
             Book.objects.all().delete()
 
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class TestNoInitialDataLoading(TransactionTestCase):
             self.assertQuerysetEqual(Book.objects.all(), [])
             transaction.rollback()
         finally:
-            transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+            transaction.set_autocommit(True)
 
 
     def test_flush(self):
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class TestNoInitialDataLoading(TransactionTestCase):
             lambda a: a.name
         )
 
-        transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+        transaction.set_autocommit(False)
         try:
             management.call_command(
                 'flush',
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class TestNoInitialDataLoading(TransactionTestCase):
             self.assertQuerysetEqual(Book.objects.all(), [])
             transaction.rollback()
         finally:
-            transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+            transaction.set_autocommit(True)
 
 
 class FixtureTestCase(TestCase):
diff --git a/tests/fixtures_regress/tests.py b/tests/fixtures_regress/tests.py
index f965dd81ac..c76056b93a 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures_regress/tests.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures_regress/tests.py
@@ -684,8 +684,8 @@ class TestTicket11101(TransactionTestCase):
     @skipUnlessDBFeature('supports_transactions')
     def test_ticket_11101(self):
         """Test that fixtures can be rolled back (ticket #11101)."""
-        transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+        transaction.set_autocommit(False)
         try:
             self.ticket_11101()
         finally:
-            transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+            transaction.set_autocommit(True)
diff --git a/tests/transactions/tests.py b/tests/transactions/tests.py
index 42a78ad4ba..e5a608e583 100644
--- a/tests/transactions/tests.py
+++ b/tests/transactions/tests.py
@@ -269,19 +269,19 @@ class AtomicMergeTests(TransactionTestCase):
 class AtomicErrorsTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
     def test_atomic_requires_autocommit(self):
-        transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=False)
+        transaction.set_autocommit(False)
         try:
             with self.assertRaises(transaction.TransactionManagementError):
                 with transaction.atomic():
                     pass
         finally:
-            transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=True)
+            transaction.set_autocommit(True)
 
     def test_atomic_prevents_disabling_autocommit(self):
         autocommit = transaction.get_autocommit()
         with transaction.atomic():
             with self.assertRaises(transaction.TransactionManagementError):
-                transaction.set_autocommit(autocommit=not autocommit)
+                transaction.set_autocommit(not autocommit)
         # Make sure autocommit wasn't changed.
         self.assertEqual(connection.autocommit, autocommit)