diff --git a/rest_framework/exceptions.py b/rest_framework/exceptions.py
index f79b16129..1a22879e1 100644
--- a/rest_framework/exceptions.py
+++ b/rest_framework/exceptions.py
@@ -144,11 +144,13 @@ class ValidationError(APIException):
     default_detail = _('Invalid input.')
     default_code = 'invalid'
 
-    def __init__(self, detail=None, code=None):
+    def __init__(self, detail=None, code=None, status_code=None):
         if detail is None:
             detail = self.default_detail
         if code is None:
             code = self.default_code
+        if status_code:
+            self.status_code = status_code
 
         # For validation failures, we may collect many errors together,
         # so the details should always be coerced to a list if not already.