diff --git a/rest_framework/request.py b/rest_framework/request.py
index 174a9de56..0b27b2a0c 100644
--- a/rest_framework/request.py
+++ b/rest_framework/request.py
@@ -379,11 +379,14 @@ class Request(object):
             return
 
         # At this point we're committed to parsing the request as form data.
-        self._data = self._request.POST
-        self._files = self._request.FILES
+        self._data, self._files = self._parse()
         self._full_data = self._data.copy()
         self._full_data.update(self._files)
 
+        # Point the underlying request data to our parsed data for backwards compatibility.
+        self._request._post = self._data
+        self._request._files = self._files
+
         # Method overloading - change the method and remove the param from the content.
         if (
             self._METHOD_PARAM and
diff --git a/tests/test_request.py b/tests/test_request.py
index c274ab69d..6ba0c27c5 100644
--- a/tests/test_request.py
+++ b/tests/test_request.py
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ class TestMethodOverloading(TestCase):
         reserved form field
         """
         request = Request(factory.post('/', {api_settings.FORM_METHOD_OVERRIDE: 'DELETE'}))
+        request.parsers = (MultiPartParser(), )
         self.assertEqual(request.method, 'DELETE')
 
     def test_x_http_method_override_header(self):
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ class TestMethodOverloading(TestCase):
         the X-HTTP-Method-Override header.
         """
         request = Request(factory.post('/', {'foo': 'bar'}, HTTP_X_HTTP_METHOD_OVERRIDE='DELETE'))
+        request.parsers = (MultiPartParser(), )
         self.assertEqual(request.method, 'DELETE')
 
         request = Request(factory.get('/', {'foo': 'bar'}, HTTP_X_HTTP_METHOD_OVERRIDE='DELETE'))
@@ -148,7 +150,7 @@ class TestContentParsing(TestCase):
             api_settings.FORM_CONTENTTYPE_OVERRIDE: content_type
         }
         request = Request(factory.post('/', form_data))
-        request.parsers = (JSONParser(), )
+        request.parsers = (JSONParser(), MultiPartParser(), )
         self.assertEqual(request.DATA, json_data)
 
     def test_form_POST_unicode(self):