diff --git a/rest_framework/generics.py b/rest_framework/generics.py
index 3ee569109..8d0bf284a 100644
--- a/rest_framework/generics.py
+++ b/rest_framework/generics.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ Generic views that provide commonly needed behaviour.
 """
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
+from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
 from django.db.models.query import QuerySet
 from django.http import Http404
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404 as _get_object_or_404
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ def get_object_or_404(queryset, *filter_args, **filter_kwargs):
     """
     try:
         return _get_object_or_404(queryset, *filter_args, **filter_kwargs)
-    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+    except (TypeError, ValueError, ValidationError):
         raise Http404
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_generics.py b/tests/test_generics.py
index f5edb6809..c0ff1c5c4 100644
--- a/tests/test_generics.py
+++ b/tests/test_generics.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import pytest
 from django.db import models
+from django.http import Http404
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404
 from django.test import TestCase
 from django.utils import six
@@ -10,7 +11,8 @@ from rest_framework import generics, renderers, serializers, status
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.test import APIRequestFactory
 from tests.models import (
-    BasicModel, ForeignKeySource, ForeignKeyTarget, RESTFrameworkModel
+    BasicModel, ForeignKeySource, ForeignKeyTarget, RESTFrameworkModel,
+    UUIDForeignKeyTarget
 )
 
 factory = APIRequestFactory()
@@ -647,3 +649,19 @@ class ApiViewsTests(TestCase):
         view.delete('test request', 'test arg', test_kwarg='test')
         assert view.called is True
         assert view.call_args == data
+
+
+class GetObjectOr404Tests(TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(GetObjectOr404Tests, self).setUp()
+        self.uuid_object = UUIDForeignKeyTarget.objects.create(name='bar')
+
+    def test_get_object_or_404_with_valid_uuid(self):
+        obj = generics.get_object_or_404(
+            UUIDForeignKeyTarget, pk=self.uuid_object.pk
+        )
+        assert obj == self.uuid_object
+
+    def test_get_object_or_404_with_invalid_string_for_uuid(self):
+        with pytest.raises(Http404):
+            generics.get_object_or_404(UUIDForeignKeyTarget, pk='not-a-uuid')