diff --git a/django/core/files/base.py b/django/core/files/base.py
index 71de5ab741..2d10100019 100644
--- a/django/core/files/base.py
+++ b/django/core/files/base.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from io import BytesIO, StringIO, UnsupportedOperation
 from django.utils.encoding import smart_text
 from django.core.files.utils import FileProxyMixin
 from django.utils import six
-from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
+from django.utils.encoding import force_bytes, python_2_unicode_compatible
 
 @python_2_unicode_compatible
 class File(FileProxyMixin):
@@ -134,8 +134,11 @@ class ContentFile(File):
     A File-like object that takes just raw content, rather than an actual file.
     """
     def __init__(self, content, name=None):
-        content = content or b''
-        stream_class = StringIO if isinstance(content, six.text_type) else BytesIO
+        if six.PY3:
+            stream_class = StringIO if isinstance(content, six.text_type) else BytesIO
+        else:
+            stream_class = BytesIO
+            content = force_bytes(content)
         super(ContentFile, self).__init__(stream_class(content), name=name)
         self.size = len(content)
 
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/file_storage/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/file_storage/tests.py
index 595b65d9f1..45c18ba14a 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/file_storage/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/file_storage/tests.py
@@ -560,6 +560,13 @@ class InconsistentGetImageDimensionsBug(unittest.TestCase):
 
 class ContentFileTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.storage_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+        self.storage = FileSystemStorage(self.storage_dir)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        shutil.rmtree(self.storage_dir)
+
     def test_content_file_default_name(self):
         self.assertEqual(ContentFile(b"content").name, None)
 
@@ -576,7 +583,18 @@ class ContentFileTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         retrieved content is of the same type.
         """
         self.assertTrue(isinstance(ContentFile(b"content").read(), bytes))
-        self.assertTrue(isinstance(ContentFile("español").read(), six.text_type))
+        if six.PY3:
+            self.assertTrue(isinstance(ContentFile("español").read(), six.text_type))
+        else:
+            self.assertTrue(isinstance(ContentFile("español").read(), bytes))
+
+    def test_content_saving(self):
+        """
+        Test that ContentFile can be saved correctly with the filesystem storage,
+        both if it was initialized with string or unicode content"""
+        self.storage.save('bytes.txt', ContentFile(b"content"))
+        self.storage.save('unicode.txt', ContentFile("español"))
+
 
 class NoNameFileTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     """