diff --git a/rest_framework/renderers.py b/rest_framework/renderers.py
index 2fdd33376..e8afc26d7 100644
--- a/rest_framework/renderers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/renderers.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import copy
 import json
+import django
 from django import forms
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.http.multipartparser import parse_header
@@ -597,7 +598,7 @@ class MultiPartRenderer(BaseRenderer):
     media_type = 'multipart/form-data; boundary=BoUnDaRyStRiNg'
     format = 'multipart'
     charset = 'utf-8'
-    BOUNDARY = 'BoUnDaRyStRiNg'
+    BOUNDARY = 'BoUnDaRyStRiNg' if django.VERSION >= (1, 5) else b'BoUnDaRyStRiNg'
 
     def render(self, data, accepted_media_type=None, renderer_context=None):
         return encode_multipart(self.BOUNDARY, data)