diff --git a/doc/src/connection.rst b/doc/src/connection.rst
index f9a1b868..235155b6 100644
--- a/doc/src/connection.rst
+++ b/doc/src/connection.rst
@@ -21,13 +21,16 @@ The ``connection`` class
     Connections are thread safe and can be shared among many thread. See
     :ref:`thread-safety` for details.
 
-    .. method:: cursor([name] [, cursor_factory])
+    .. method:: cursor([name] [, cursor_factory] [, withhold])
           
         Return a new `cursor` object using the connection.
 
         If *name* is specified, the returned cursor will be a :ref:`server
         side cursor <server-side-cursors>` (also known as *named cursor*).
-        Otherwise it will be a regular *client side* cursor.
+        Otherwise it will be a regular *client side* cursor. By default a
+        :sql:`WITHOUT HOLD` cursor is created; to create a :sql:`WITH HOLD`
+        cursor, pass a `!True` value as the *withhold* parameter.  See
+        :ref:`server-side-cursors`.
 
         The name can be a string not valid as a PostgreSQL identifier: for
         example it may start with a digit and contain non-alphanumeric
diff --git a/doc/src/cursor.rst b/doc/src/cursor.rst
index d5cf5244..c8f40abf 100644
--- a/doc/src/cursor.rst
+++ b/doc/src/cursor.rst
@@ -114,6 +114,19 @@ The ``cursor`` class
             The `name` attribute is a Psycopg extension to the |DBAPI|.
 
 
+    .. attribute:: withhold
+    
+        Read/write attribute: specifies if a named cursor lifetime should
+        extend outside of the current transaction, i.e., it is possible to
+        fetch from the cursor even after a `commection.commit()` (but not after
+        a `connection.rollback()`).  See :ref:`server-side-cursors`
+
+        .. versionadded:: 2.4.3
+        
+        .. extension::
+
+            The `name` attribute is a Psycopg extension to the |DBAPI|.
+    
     
     .. |execute*| replace:: `execute*()`
 
diff --git a/doc/src/usage.rst b/doc/src/usage.rst
index 5f6c5b1c..e8e36ae4 100644
--- a/doc/src/usage.rst
+++ b/doc/src/usage.rst
@@ -575,6 +575,19 @@ during the iteration: the default value of 2000 allows to fetch about 100KB
 per roundtrip assuming records of 10-20 columns of mixed number and strings;
 you may decrease this value if you are dealing with huge records.
 
+Named cursors are usually created :sql:`WITHOUT HOLD`, meaning they live only
+as long as the current transaction. Trying to fetch from a named cursor after
+a `~connection.commit()` or to create a named cursor when the `connection`
+transaction isolation level is set to `AUTOCOMMIT` will result in an exception.
+It is possible to create a :sql:`WITH HOLD` cursor by specifying a `!True`
+value for the `withhold` parameter to `~connection.cursor()` or by setting the
+`~cursor.withhold` attribute to `!True` before calling `~cursor.execute()` on
+the cursor. It is extremely important to always `~cursor.close()` such cursors,
+otherwise they will continue to hold server-side resources until the connection
+will be eventually be closed. Also note that while :sql:`WITH HOLD` cursors
+lifetime extends well after `~connection.commit()`, calling
+`~connection.rollback()` will automatically close the cursor.
+
 .. |DECLARE| replace:: :sql:`DECLARE`
 .. _DECLARE: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.0/static/sql-declare.html
 
diff --git a/psycopg/connection_type.c b/psycopg/connection_type.c
index 1dc8232b..c7b82e82 100644
--- a/psycopg/connection_type.c
+++ b/psycopg/connection_type.c
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 /* cursor method - allocate a new cursor */
 
 #define psyco_conn_cursor_doc \
-"cursor(cursor_factory=extensions.cursor) -- new cursor\n\n"                \
+"cursor(name=None, cursor_factory=extensions.cursor, withhold=None) -- new cursor\n\n"     \
 "Return a new cursor.\n\nThe ``cursor_factory`` argument can be used to\n"  \
 "create non-standard cursors by passing a class different from the\n"       \
 "default. Note that the new class *should* be a sub-class of\n"             \
@@ -63,16 +63,11 @@ psyco_conn_cursor(connectionObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *keywds)
     }
 
     if (withhold != NULL) {
-        if (withhold == Py_True && name == NULL) {
+        if (PyObject_IsTrue(withhold) && name == NULL) {
             PyErr_SetString(ProgrammingError,
                 "'withhold=True can be specified only for named cursors");
             return NULL;
         }
-        if (withhold != NULL && withhold != Py_True && withhold != Py_False) {
-            PyErr_SetString(ProgrammingError,
-                "'withhold should be True or False");
-            return NULL;
-        }
     }
     
     EXC_IF_CONN_CLOSED(self);
@@ -109,7 +104,7 @@ psyco_conn_cursor(connectionObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *keywds)
         return NULL;
     }
     
-    if (withhold == Py_True)
+    if (withhold != NULL && PyObject_IsTrue(withhold))
         ((cursorObject*)obj)->withhold = 1;
 
     Dprintf("psyco_conn_cursor: new cursor at %p: refcnt = "
diff --git a/tests/test_cursor.py b/tests/test_cursor.py
index 1942cd17..18278948 100755
--- a/tests/test_cursor.py
+++ b/tests/test_cursor.py
@@ -161,8 +161,6 @@ class CursorTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_withhold(self):
         self.assertRaises(psycopg2.ProgrammingError, self.conn.cursor, 
                           withhold=True)    
-        self.assertRaises(psycopg2.ProgrammingError, self.conn.cursor, 
-                          "NAME", withhold="")    
                           
         curs = self.conn.cursor()
         curs.execute("drop table if exists withhold")