diff --git a/rest_framework/views.py b/rest_framework/views.py
index 5b0622069..071d52283 100644
--- a/rest_framework/views.py
+++ b/rest_framework/views.py
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ class APIView(View):
             self.initial(request, *args, **kwargs)
 
             # Get the appropriate handler method
-            if request.method.lower() in self.http_method_names:
+            if request.method.lower() in map(str.lower, self.http_method_names):
                 handler = getattr(self, request.method.lower(),
                                   self.http_method_not_allowed)
             else: