diff --git a/rest_framework/views.py b/rest_framework/views.py
index a90b4d3c0..dac7fbb57 100644
--- a/rest_framework/views.py
+++ b/rest_framework/views.py
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 Provides an APIView class that is the base of all views in REST framework.
 """
 import asyncio
-from asgiref.sync import async_to_sync
+
+import django
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.exceptions import PermissionDenied
 from django.db import connections, models
@@ -20,6 +21,11 @@ from rest_framework.schemas import DefaultSchema
 from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 from rest_framework.utils import formatting
 
+if django.VERSION >= (3, 1):
+    from asgiref.sync import async_to_sync
+else:
+    async_to_sync = None
+
 
 def get_view_name(view):
     """
@@ -506,6 +512,8 @@ class APIView(View):
                 handler = self.http_method_not_allowed
 
             if asyncio.iscoroutinefunction(handler):
+                if not async_to_sync:
+                    raise Exception('Async API views are supported only for django>=3.1.')
                 response = async_to_sync(handler)(request, *args, **kwargs)
             else:
                 response = handler(request, *args, **kwargs)
diff --git a/tests/test_views.py b/tests/test_views.py
index 2bcee571e..61d073270 100644
--- a/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/tests/test_views.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import copy
 
+import django
+import pytest
 from django.test import TestCase
 
 from rest_framework import status
@@ -136,6 +138,10 @@ class FunctionBasedViewIntegrationTests(TestCase):
         assert sanitise_json_error(response.data) == expected
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    django.VERSION < (3, 1),
+    reason="Async view support requires Django 3.1 or higher",
+)
 class ClassBasedAsyncViewIntegrationTests(TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         self.view = BasicAsyncView.as_view()