diff --git a/rest_framework/authtoken/migrations/0001_initial.py b/rest_framework/authtoken/migrations/0001_initial.py
index 9d750381d..f4e052e48 100644
--- a/rest_framework/authtoken/migrations/0001_initial.py
+++ b/rest_framework/authtoken/migrations/0001_initial.py
@@ -5,13 +5,21 @@ from south.v2 import SchemaMigration
 from django.db import models
 
 
+try:
+    from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+except ImportError: # django < 1.5
+    from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+else:
+    User = get_user_model()
+
+
 class Migration(SchemaMigration):
 
     def forwards(self, orm):
         # Adding model 'Token'
         db.create_table('authtoken_token', (
             ('key', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.CharField')(max_length=40, primary_key=True)),
-            ('user', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.related.OneToOneField')(related_name='auth_token', unique=True, to=orm['auth.User'])),
+            ('user', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.related.OneToOneField')(related_name='auth_token', unique=True, to=orm['%s.%s' % (User._meta.app_label, User._meta.object_name)])),
             ('created', self.gf('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField')(auto_now_add=True, blank=True)),
         ))
         db.send_create_signal('authtoken', ['Token'])
@@ -36,7 +44,7 @@ class Migration(SchemaMigration):
             'id': ('django.db.models.fields.AutoField', [], {'primary_key': 'True'}),
             'name': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '50'})
         },
-        'auth.user': {
+        "%s.%s" % (User._meta.app_label, User._meta.module_name): {
             'Meta': {'object_name': 'User'},
             'date_joined': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'default': 'datetime.datetime.now'}),
             'email': ('django.db.models.fields.EmailField', [], {'max_length': '75', 'blank': 'True'}),
@@ -56,7 +64,7 @@ class Migration(SchemaMigration):
             'Meta': {'object_name': 'Token'},
             'created': ('django.db.models.fields.DateTimeField', [], {'auto_now_add': 'True', 'blank': 'True'}),
             'key': ('django.db.models.fields.CharField', [], {'max_length': '40', 'primary_key': 'True'}),
-            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.OneToOneField', [], {'related_name': "'auth_token'", 'unique': 'True', 'to': "orm['auth.User']"})
+            'user': ('django.db.models.fields.related.OneToOneField', [], {'related_name': "'auth_token'", 'unique': 'True', 'to': "orm['%s.%s']" % (User._meta.app_label, User._meta.object_name)})
         },
         'contenttypes.contenttype': {
             'Meta': {'ordering': "('name',)", 'unique_together': "(('app_label', 'model'),)", 'object_name': 'ContentType', 'db_table': "'django_content_type'"},
diff --git a/rest_framework/authtoken/models.py b/rest_framework/authtoken/models.py
index 5b3071aa7..4da2aa625 100644
--- a/rest_framework/authtoken/models.py
+++ b/rest_framework/authtoken/models.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import uuid
 import hmac
 from hashlib import sha1
+from rest_framework.compat import User
 from django.db import models
 
 
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@ class Token(models.Model):
     The default authorization token model.
     """
     key = models.CharField(max_length=40, primary_key=True)
-    user = models.OneToOneField('auth.User', related_name='auth_token')
+    user = models.OneToOneField(User, related_name='auth_token')
     created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
 
     def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
diff --git a/rest_framework/compat.py b/rest_framework/compat.py
index e38e7c33a..09b763681 100644
--- a/rest_framework/compat.py
+++ b/rest_framework/compat.py
@@ -27,6 +27,20 @@ def get_concrete_model(model_cls):
         return model_cls
 
 
+# Django 1.5 add support for custom auth user model
+if django.VERSION >= (1, 5):
+    from django.conf import settings
+    if hasattr(settings, 'AUTH_USER_MODEL'):
+        User = settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL
+    else:
+        from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+else:
+    try:
+        from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+    except ImportError:
+        raise ImportError(u"User model is not to be found.")
+
+
 # First implementation of Django class-based views did not include head method
 # in base View class - https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/15668
 if django.VERSION >= (1, 4):