diff --git a/rest_framework/pagination.py b/rest_framework/pagination.py
index 100b31b71..87e154c75 100644
--- a/rest_framework/pagination.py
+++ b/rest_framework/pagination.py
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ class CursorPagination(BasePagination):
     def get_page_size(self, request):
         return self.page_size
 
-    def get_next_link(self):
+    def get_next_cursor(self):
         if not self.has_next:
             return None
 
@@ -613,10 +613,18 @@ class CursorPagination(BasePagination):
                 offset = self.cursor.offset + self.page_size
                 position = self.previous_position
 
-        cursor = Cursor(offset=offset, reverse=False, position=position)
-        return self.encode_cursor(cursor)
+        return Cursor(offset=offset, reverse=False, position=position)
 
-    def get_previous_link(self):
+    def get_next_encoded_cursor(self):
+        return self.encode_cursor(self.get_next_cursor())
+
+    def get_next_link(self):
+        if not self.has_next:
+            return None
+
+        return self.urify_cursor(self.get_next_encoded_cursor())
+
+    def get_previous_cursor(self):
         if not self.has_previous:
             return None
 
@@ -661,8 +669,16 @@ class CursorPagination(BasePagination):
                 offset = 0
                 position = self.next_position
 
-        cursor = Cursor(offset=offset, reverse=True, position=position)
-        return self.encode_cursor(cursor)
+        return Cursor(offset=offset, reverse=True, position=position)
+
+    def get_previous_encoded_cursor(self):
+        return self.encode_cursor(self.get_previous_cursor())
+
+    def get_previous_link(self):
+        if not self.has_previous:
+            return None
+
+        return self.urify_cursor(self.get_previous_encoded_cursor())
 
     def get_ordering(self, request, queryset, view):
         """
@@ -738,6 +754,9 @@ class CursorPagination(BasePagination):
         """
         Given a Cursor instance, return an url with encoded cursor.
         """
+        if cursor is None:
+            return None
+
         tokens = {}
         if cursor.offset != 0:
             tokens['o'] = str(cursor.offset)
@@ -747,8 +766,10 @@ class CursorPagination(BasePagination):
             tokens['p'] = cursor.position
 
         querystring = urlparse.urlencode(tokens, doseq=True)
-        encoded = b64encode(querystring.encode('ascii')).decode('ascii')
-        return replace_query_param(self.base_url, self.cursor_query_param, encoded)
+        return b64encode(querystring.encode('ascii')).decode('ascii')
+
+    def urify_cursor(self, encoded_cursor):
+        return replace_query_param(self.base_url, self.cursor_query_param, encoded_cursor)
 
     def _get_position_from_instance(self, instance, ordering):
         field_name = ordering[0].lstrip('-')