diff --git a/docs/api-guide/settings.md b/docs/api-guide/settings.md
index 6fdb77c86..150058c1a 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/settings.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/settings.md
@@ -447,6 +447,12 @@ An integer of 0 or more, that may be used to specify the number of application p
 
 Default: `None`
 
+#### SUPPORT_PATCH
+
+If set to `False` then HTTP PATCH requests will not be allowed.
+
+Default: `True`
+
 [cite]: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/
 [rfc4627]: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4627.txt
 [heroku-minified-json]: https://github.com/interagent/http-api-design#keep-json-minified-in-all-responses
diff --git a/rest_framework/mixins.py b/rest_framework/mixins.py
index 1104aa29c..c338efa4f 100644
--- a/rest_framework/mixins.py
+++ b/rest_framework/mixins.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ which allows mixin classes to be composed in interesting ways.
 """
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-from rest_framework import status
+from rest_framework import exceptions, status
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ class UpdateModelMixin(object):
         serializer.save()
 
     def partial_update(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
+        if not api_settings.SUPPORT_PATCH:
+            raise exceptions.MethodNotAllowed(request.method)
+
         kwargs['partial'] = True
         return self.update(request, *args, **kwargs)
 
diff --git a/rest_framework/settings.py b/rest_framework/settings.py
index e20e51287..df7785546 100644
--- a/rest_framework/settings.py
+++ b/rest_framework/settings.py
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ DEFAULTS = {
     # Generic view behavior
     'DEFAULT_PAGINATION_CLASS': 'rest_framework.pagination.PageNumberPagination',
     'DEFAULT_FILTER_BACKENDS': (),
+    'SUPPORT_PATCH': True,
 
     # Throttling
     'DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RATES': {
diff --git a/rest_framework/views.py b/rest_framework/views.py
index a709c2f6b..102a8479e 100644
--- a/rest_framework/views.py
+++ b/rest_framework/views.py
@@ -129,7 +129,12 @@ class APIView(View):
         """
         Wrap Django's private `_allowed_methods` interface in a public property.
         """
-        return self._allowed_methods()
+        allowed_methods = self._allowed_methods()
+
+        if not api_settings.SUPPORT_PATCH and 'PATCH' in allowed_methods:
+            allowed_methods.remove('PATCH')
+
+        return allowed_methods
 
     @property
     def default_response_headers(self):
diff --git a/tests/test_generics.py b/tests/test_generics.py
index 0647119bf..80a4ed66d 100644
--- a/tests/test_generics.py
+++ b/tests/test_generics.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from django.test import TestCase
 from django.utils import six
 
 from rest_framework import generics, renderers, serializers, status
+from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 from rest_framework.test import APIRequestFactory
 from tests.models import (
     BasicModel, ForeignKeySource, ForeignKeyTarget, RESTFrameworkModel
@@ -507,3 +508,26 @@ class TestFilterBackendAppliedToViews(TestCase):
         response = view(request).render()
         self.assertContains(response, 'field_b')
         self.assertNotContains(response, 'field_a')
+
+
+class TestSupportPatchSetting(TestCase):
+    def test_patch_instance_view_support_patch(self):
+        """
+        PATCH requests should fail when SUPPORT_PATCH is set to False.
+        """
+        obj = BasicModel.objects.create(text='abc')
+
+        class InstanceView(generics.UpdateAPIView):
+            queryset = BasicModel.objects.all()
+            serializer_class = BasicSerializer
+
+        api_settings.SUPPORT_PATCH = False
+
+        data = {'text': 'foobar'}
+        request = factory.patch('/1', data, format='json')
+        view = InstanceView.as_view()
+        response = view(request, pk=obj.pk).render()
+
+        api_settings.SUPPORT_PATCH = True
+
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, status.HTTP_405_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED)