diff --git a/docs/api-guide/settings.md b/docs/api-guide/settings.md
index aaedd463e..43db46152 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/settings.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/settings.md
@@ -456,6 +456,12 @@ An integer of 0 or more, that may be used to specify the number of application p
 
 Default: `None`
 
+#### USE_PERMISSION_CODE
+
+USE_PERMISSION_CODE determines whether BasePermission.code is used in exceptions.PermissionDenied.
+
+Default: `False`
+
 [cite]: https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/
 [rfc4627]: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4627.txt
 [heroku-minified-json]: https://github.com/interagent/http-api-design#keep-json-minified-in-all-responses
diff --git a/rest_framework/settings.py b/rest_framework/settings.py
index 3f3c9110a..dc8bbd59a 100644
--- a/rest_framework/settings.py
+++ b/rest_framework/settings.py
@@ -123,6 +123,8 @@ DEFAULTS = {
         'retrieve': 'read',
         'destroy': 'delete'
     },
+
+    'USE_PERMISSION_CODE': False,
 }
 
 
diff --git a/rest_framework/views.py b/rest_framework/views.py
index 8ec5f14ab..06e6c624e 100644
--- a/rest_framework/views.py
+++ b/rest_framework/views.py
@@ -162,13 +162,13 @@ class APIView(View):
         """
         raise exceptions.MethodNotAllowed(request.method)
 
-    def permission_denied(self, request, message=None):
+    def permission_denied(self, request, message=None, code=None):
         """
         If request is not permitted, determine what kind of exception to raise.
         """
         if request.authenticators and not request.successful_authenticator:
             raise exceptions.NotAuthenticated()
-        raise exceptions.PermissionDenied(detail=message)
+        raise exceptions.PermissionDenied(detail=message, code=code)
 
     def throttled(self, request, wait):
         """
@@ -327,7 +327,9 @@ class APIView(View):
         for permission in self.get_permissions():
             if not permission.has_permission(request, self):
                 self.permission_denied(
-                    request, message=getattr(permission, 'message', None)
+                    request,
+                    message=getattr(permission, 'message', None),
+                    code=getattr(permission, 'code', None) if api_settings.USE_PERMISSION_CODE else None
                 )
 
     def check_object_permissions(self, request, obj):
@@ -338,7 +340,9 @@ class APIView(View):
         for permission in self.get_permissions():
             if not permission.has_object_permission(request, self, obj):
                 self.permission_denied(
-                    request, message=getattr(permission, 'message', None)
+                    request,
+                    message=getattr(permission, 'message', None),
+                    code=getattr(permission, 'code', None) if api_settings.USE_PERMISSION_CODE else None
                 )
 
     def check_throttles(self, request):