diff --git a/rest_framework/generics.py b/rest_framework/generics.py
index afcb8a9ff..9ccc78980 100644
--- a/rest_framework/generics.py
+++ b/rest_framework/generics.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from __future__ import unicode_literals
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured, PermissionDenied
 from django.core.paginator import Paginator, InvalidPage
 from django.http import Http404
-from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404
+from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404 as _get_object_or_404
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 from rest_framework import views, mixins, exceptions
 from rest_framework.request import clone_request
@@ -14,6 +14,17 @@ from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 import warnings
 
 
+def get_object_or_404(queryset, **filter_kwargs):
+    """
+    Same as Django's standard shortcut, but make sure to raise 404
+    if the filter_kwargs don't match the required types.
+    """
+    try:
+        return _get_object_or_404(queryset, **filter_kwargs)
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        raise Http404
+
+
 class GenericAPIView(views.APIView):
     """
     Base class for all other generic views.
diff --git a/rest_framework/tests/generics.py b/rest_framework/tests/generics.py
index f091d0db5..37734195a 100644
--- a/rest_framework/tests/generics.py
+++ b/rest_framework/tests/generics.py
@@ -279,6 +279,16 @@ class TestInstanceView(TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
         self.assertEqual(response.data, expected)
 
+    def test_get_instance_view_incorrect_arg(self):
+        """
+        GET requests with an incorrect pk type, should raise 404, not 500.
+        Regression test for #890.
+        """
+        request = factory.get('/a')
+        with self.assertNumQueries(0):
+            response = self.view(request, pk='a').render()
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND)
+
     def test_put_cannot_set_id(self):
         """
         PUT requests to create a new object should not be able to set the id.