diff --git a/rest_framework/generics.py b/rest_framework/generics.py
index af3b69dae..d4a50dcda 100644
--- a/rest_framework/generics.py
+++ b/rest_framework/generics.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class GenericAPIView(views.APIView):
     pagination_serializer_class = api_settings.DEFAULT_PAGINATION_SERIALIZER_CLASS
     allow_empty = True
     page_kwarg = 'page'
+    lookup_kwarg = 'pk'
 
     # Pending deprecation
     model = None
@@ -167,23 +168,26 @@ class GenericAPIView(views.APIView):
         By default this requires `self.queryset` and a `pk` or `slug` argument
         in the URLconf, but subclasses can override this to return any object.
         """
-        # Use a custom queryset if provided; this is required for subclasses
-        # like DateDetailView
+        # Determine the base queryset to use.
         if queryset is None:
             queryset = self.get_queryset()
-        # Next, try looking up by primary key.
+
+        # Perform the lookup filtering.
         pk = self.kwargs.get(self.pk_url_kwarg, None)
         slug = self.kwargs.get(self.slug_url_kwarg, None)
-        if pk is not None:
+        lookup = self.kwargs.get(self.lookup_kwarg, None)
+
+        if lookup is not None:
+            queryset = queryset.filter(**{self.lookup_kwarg: lookup})
+        elif pk is not None:
             queryset = queryset.filter(pk=pk)
-        # Next, try looking up by slug.
         elif slug is not None:
             queryset = queryset.filter(**{self.slug_field: slug})
-        # If none of those are defined, it's an error.
         else:
             raise AttributeError("Generic detail view %s must be called with "
                                  "either an object pk or a slug."
                                  % self.__class__.__name__)
+
         try:
             # Get the single item from the filtered queryset
             obj = queryset.get()
@@ -191,7 +195,9 @@ class GenericAPIView(views.APIView):
             raise Http404(_("No %(verbose_name)s found matching the query") %
                           {'verbose_name': queryset.model._meta.verbose_name})
 
+        # May raise a permission denied
         self.check_object_permissions(self.request, obj)
+
         return obj
 
 
diff --git a/rest_framework/tests/filterset.py b/rest_framework/tests/filterset.py
index 1a71558c0..1e53a5cdb 100644
--- a/rest_framework/tests/filterset.py
+++ b/rest_framework/tests/filterset.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ if django_filters:
 class CommonFilteringTestCase(TestCase):
     def _serialize_object(self, obj):
         return {'id': obj.id, 'text': obj.text, 'decimal': obj.decimal, 'date': obj.date}
-    
+
     def setUp(self):
         """
         Create 10 FilterableItem instances.
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ class IntegrationTestDetailFiltering(CommonFilteringTestCase):
     Integration tests for filtered detail views.
     """
     urls = 'rest_framework.tests.filterset'
-    
+
     def _get_url(self, item):
         return reverse('detail-view', kwargs=dict(pk=item.pk))
 
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ class IntegrationTestDetailFiltering(CommonFilteringTestCase):
         response = self.client.get('{url}?decimal={param}'.format(url=self._get_url(low_item), param=search_decimal))
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
         self.assertEqual(response.data, low_item_data)
-        
+
         # Tests that multiple filters works.
         search_decimal = Decimal('5.25')
         search_date = datetime.date(2012, 10, 2)