diff --git a/rest_framework/authentication.py b/rest_framework/authentication.py
index 3f3bd2227..bd0e28e0b 100644
--- a/rest_framework/authentication.py
+++ b/rest_framework/authentication.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import binascii
 
 from django.contrib.auth import authenticate, get_user_model
 from django.middleware.csrf import CsrfViewMiddleware
-from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
+from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
 from rest_framework import HTTP_HEADER_ENCODING, exceptions