diff --git a/rest_framework/throttling.py b/rest_framework/throttling.py
index 1374d4492..0ba2ba66b 100644
--- a/rest_framework/throttling.py
+++ b/rest_framework/throttling.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 Provides various throttling policies.
 """
 import time
-from collections import deque
 
 from django.core.cache import cache as default_cache
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
@@ -121,7 +120,7 @@ class SimpleRateThrottle(BaseThrottle):
         if self.key is None:
             return True
 
-        self.history = self.cache.get(self.key, deque())
+        self.history = self.cache.get(self.key, [])
         self.now = self.timer()
 
         # Drop any requests from the history which have now passed the