diff --git a/docs/api-guide/settings.md b/docs/api-guide/settings.md
index 4d4898e1a..2a182cfcf 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/settings.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/settings.md
@@ -306,6 +306,14 @@ May be a list including the string `'iso-8601'` or Python [strftime format][strf
 
 Default: `['iso-8601']`
 
+#### DATETIME_TZ
+
+If set, used as the canonical timezone for `DateTimeField` serialization. If this is not set but Django timezone support is active, Django's timezone is instead used
+
+May be any of `None`, or a `datetime.tzinfo` object (such as `pytz.timezone('Asia/Kolkata')`)
+
+Default: None
+
 #### DATE_FORMAT
 
 A format string that should be used by default for rendering the output of `DateField` serializer fields.  If `None`, then `DateField` serializer fields will return Python `date` objects, and the date encoding will be determined by the renderer.
diff --git a/rest_framework/fields.py b/rest_framework/fields.py
index 58e28ed4c..d5ff8110f 100644
--- a/rest_framework/fields.py
+++ b/rest_framework/fields.py
@@ -1174,7 +1174,13 @@ class DateTimeField(Field):
         return value
 
     def default_timezone(self):
-        return timezone.get_current_timezone() if settings.USE_TZ else None
+        if settings.USE_TZ:
+            if api_settings.DATETIME_TZ:
+                return api_settings.DATETIME_TZ
+            else:
+                return timezone.get_current_timezone()
+        else:
+            return None
 
     def to_internal_value(self, value):
         input_formats = getattr(self, 'input_formats', api_settings.DATETIME_INPUT_FORMATS)
diff --git a/rest_framework/settings.py b/rest_framework/settings.py
index 6c581f8e8..8ccaeaae3 100644
--- a/rest_framework/settings.py
+++ b/rest_framework/settings.py
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ DEFAULTS = {
 
     'DATETIME_FORMAT': ISO_8601,
     'DATETIME_INPUT_FORMATS': (ISO_8601,),
+    'DATETIME_TZ': None,
 
     'TIME_FORMAT': ISO_8601,
     'TIME_INPUT_FORMATS': (ISO_8601,),
diff --git a/tests/test_fields.py b/tests/test_fields.py
index eee794eaa..117daa487 100644
--- a/tests/test_fields.py
+++ b/tests/test_fields.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ from django.utils.timezone import activate, deactivate, override, utc
 import rest_framework
 from rest_framework import compat, serializers
 from rest_framework.fields import DjangoImageField, is_simple_callable
+from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 
 try:
     import pytz
@@ -1280,6 +1281,42 @@ class TestTZWithDateTimeField(FieldValues):
         cls.field = serializers.DateTimeField(default_timezone=kolkata)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(pytz is None, reason='pytz not installed')
+@override_settings(TIME_ZONE='Asia/Kolkata', USE_TZ=True)
+class TestDateTimeWithOverrideField(FieldValues, TestCase):
+    """
+    Valid and invalid values for `DateTimeField` when not using UTC as the timezone.
+    """
+    @classmethod
+    def setup_class(cls):
+        # use class setup method, as class-level attribute will still be evaluated even if test is skipped
+        kolkata = pytz.timezone('Asia/Kolkata')
+        paris = pytz.timezone('Europe/Paris')
+        # set the timezone to a specific timezone that isn't the django-level setting
+        cls.old_setting = api_settings.DATETIME_TZ
+
+        api_settings.DATETIME_TZ = paris
+
+
+        cls.valid_inputs = {
+            '2016-12-19T10:00:00': paris.localize(datetime.datetime(2016, 12, 19, 10)),
+            # datetimes are reworked into the paris tz
+            '2016-12-19T10:00:00+05:30': paris.localize(datetime.datetime(2016, 12, 19, 5, 30)),
+            # naive datetimes are assumed to be in the paris tz
+            datetime.datetime(2016, 12, 19, 10): paris.localize(datetime.datetime(2016, 12, 19, 10)),
+        }
+        cls.invalid_inputs = {}
+        cls.outputs = {
+            datetime.datetime(2016, 12, 19, 10): '2016-12-19T10:00:00+01:00',
+            datetime.datetime(2016, 12, 19, 4, 30, tzinfo=utc): '2016-12-19T05:30:00+01:00',
+        }
+        cls.field = serializers.DateTimeField()
+
+    @classmethod
+    def teardown_class(cls):
+        api_settings.DATETIME_TZ = cls.old_setting
+
+
 @pytest.mark.skipif(pytz is None, reason='pytz not installed')
 @override_settings(TIME_ZONE='UTC', USE_TZ=True)
 class TestDefaultTZDateTimeField(TestCase):