diff --git a/docs/api-guide/schemas.md b/docs/api-guide/schemas.md
index 848e57420..7f8af723e 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/schemas.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/schemas.md
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ schema URLs include a path prefix.
 If you want more flexibility over the schema output then you'll need to consider
 using `SchemaGenerator` instead.
 
+#### root_renderers
+
+May be used to pass the set of renderer classes that can be used to render the API root endpoint.
+
 ## Using SchemaGenerator
 
 The most common way to add a schema to your API is to use the `SchemaGenerator`
diff --git a/rest_framework/routers.py b/rest_framework/routers.py
index 099c56d6c..4eec70bda 100644
--- a/rest_framework/routers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/routers.py
@@ -283,6 +283,10 @@ class DefaultRouter(SimpleRouter):
         self.schema_title = kwargs.pop('schema_title', None)
         self.schema_url = kwargs.pop('schema_url', None)
         self.schema_renderers = kwargs.pop('schema_renderers', self.default_schema_renderers)
+        if 'root_renderers' in kwargs:
+            self.root_renderers = kwargs.pop('root_renderers')
+        else:
+            self.root_renderers = list(api_settings.DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES)
         super(DefaultRouter, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def get_api_root_view(self, api_urls=None):
@@ -294,7 +298,7 @@ class DefaultRouter(SimpleRouter):
         for prefix, viewset, basename in self.registry:
             api_root_dict[prefix] = list_name.format(basename=basename)
 
-        view_renderers = list(api_settings.DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES)
+        view_renderers = list(self.root_renderers)
         schema_media_types = []
 
         if api_urls and self.schema_title: