diff --git a/docs/topics/release-notes.md b/docs/topics/release-notes.md
index ebbe6876e..4bd73e78a 100644
--- a/docs/topics/release-notes.md
+++ b/docs/topics/release-notes.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Major version numbers (x.0.0) are reserved for project milestones.  No major poi
 * `format_suffix_patterns()` now supports `include` style URL patterns. 
 * Bugfix: Return proper validation errors when incorrect types supplied for relational fields.
 * Bugfix: Support nullable FKs with `SlugRelatedField`.
+* Bugfix: Don't call custom validation methods if the field has an error.
 
 **Note**: If the primary authentication class is `TokenAuthentication` or `BasicAuthentication`, a view will now correctly return 401 responses to unauthenticated access, with an appropriate `WWW-Authenticate` header, instead of 403 responses.
 
diff --git a/rest_framework/serializers.py b/rest_framework/serializers.py
index 27458f968..1450b9c76 100644
--- a/rest_framework/serializers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/serializers.py
@@ -227,6 +227,8 @@ class BaseSerializer(Field):
         Run `validate_<fieldname>()` and `validate()` methods on the serializer
         """
         for field_name, field in self.fields.items():
+            if field_name in self._errors:
+                continue
             try:
                 validate_method = getattr(self, 'validate_%s' % field_name, None)
                 if validate_method:
diff --git a/rest_framework/tests/serializer.py b/rest_framework/tests/serializer.py
index bd96ba23e..b4428ca31 100644
--- a/rest_framework/tests/serializer.py
+++ b/rest_framework/tests/serializer.py
@@ -162,7 +162,6 @@ class BasicTests(TestCase):
         """
         Attempting to update fields set as read_only should have no effect.
         """
-
         serializer = PersonSerializer(self.person, data={'name': 'dwight', 'age': 99})
         self.assertEquals(serializer.is_valid(), True)
         instance = serializer.save()
@@ -183,8 +182,7 @@ class ValidationTests(TestCase):
             'content': 'x' * 1001,
             'created': datetime.datetime(2012, 1, 1)
         }
-        self.actionitem = ActionItem(title='Some to do item',
-        )
+        self.actionitem = ActionItem(title='Some to do item',)
 
     def test_create(self):
         serializer = CommentSerializer(data=self.data)
@@ -216,31 +214,6 @@ class ValidationTests(TestCase):
         self.assertEquals(serializer.is_valid(), True)
         self.assertEquals(serializer.errors, {})
 
-    def test_field_validation(self):
-
-        class CommentSerializerWithFieldValidator(CommentSerializer):
-
-            def validate_content(self, attrs, source):
-                value = attrs[source]
-                if "test" not in value:
-                    raise serializers.ValidationError("Test not in value")
-                return attrs
-
-        data = {
-            'email': 'tom@example.com',
-            'content': 'A test comment',
-            'created': datetime.datetime(2012, 1, 1)
-        }
-
-        serializer = CommentSerializerWithFieldValidator(data=data)
-        self.assertTrue(serializer.is_valid())
-
-        data['content'] = 'This should not validate'
-
-        serializer = CommentSerializerWithFieldValidator(data=data)
-        self.assertFalse(serializer.is_valid())
-        self.assertEquals(serializer.errors, {'content': [u'Test not in value']})
-
     def test_bad_type_data_is_false(self):
         """
         Data of the wrong type is not valid.
@@ -310,12 +283,69 @@ class ValidationTests(TestCase):
         self.assertEquals(serializer.errors, {'info': [u'Ensure this value has at most 12 characters (it has 13).']})
 
 
+class CustomValidationTests(TestCase):
+    class CommentSerializerWithFieldValidator(CommentSerializer):
+
+        def validate_email(self, attrs, source):
+            value = attrs[source]
+
+            return attrs
+
+        def validate_content(self, attrs, source):
+            value = attrs[source]
+            if "test" not in value:
+                raise serializers.ValidationError("Test not in value")
+            return attrs
+
+    def test_field_validation(self):
+        data = {
+            'email': 'tom@example.com',
+            'content': 'A test comment',
+            'created': datetime.datetime(2012, 1, 1)
+        }
+
+        serializer = self.CommentSerializerWithFieldValidator(data=data)
+        self.assertTrue(serializer.is_valid())
+
+        data['content'] = 'This should not validate'
+
+        serializer = self.CommentSerializerWithFieldValidator(data=data)
+        self.assertFalse(serializer.is_valid())
+        self.assertEquals(serializer.errors, {'content': [u'Test not in value']})
+
+    def test_missing_data(self):
+        """
+        Make sure that validate_content isn't called if the field is missing
+        """
+        incomplete_data = {
+            'email': 'tom@example.com',
+            'created': datetime.datetime(2012, 1, 1)
+        }
+        serializer = self.CommentSerializerWithFieldValidator(data=incomplete_data)
+        self.assertFalse(serializer.is_valid())
+        self.assertEquals(serializer.errors, {'content': [u'This field is required.']})
+
+    def test_wrong_data(self):
+        """
+        Make sure that validate_content isn't called if the field input is wrong
+        """
+        wrong_data = {
+            'email': 'not an email',
+            'content': 'A test comment',
+            'created': datetime.datetime(2012, 1, 1)
+        }
+        serializer = self.CommentSerializerWithFieldValidator(data=wrong_data)
+        self.assertFalse(serializer.is_valid())
+        self.assertEquals(serializer.errors, {'email': [u'Enter a valid e-mail address.']})
+
+
 class PositiveIntegerAsChoiceTests(TestCase):
     def test_positive_integer_in_json_is_correctly_parsed(self):
-        data = {'some_integer':1}
+        data = {'some_integer': 1}
         serializer = PositiveIntegerAsChoiceSerializer(data=data)
         self.assertEquals(serializer.is_valid(), True)
 
+
 class ModelValidationTests(TestCase):
     def test_validate_unique(self):
         """