diff --git a/django/core/management/commands/compilemessages.py b/django/core/management/commands/compilemessages.py
index 845ad159a9..cb41492004 100644
--- a/django/core/management/commands/compilemessages.py
+++ b/django/core/management/commands/compilemessages.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ def has_bom(fn):
             sample.startswith(codecs.BOM_UTF16_LE) or \
             sample.startswith(codecs.BOM_UTF16_BE)
 
-def compile_messages(stderr, locale=None):
+def compile_messages(stdout, locale=None):
     program = 'msgfmt'
     if find_command(program) is None:
         raise CommandError("Can't find %s. Make sure you have GNU gettext tools 0.15 or newer installed." % program)
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def compile_messages(stderr, locale=None):
                 for f in filenames:
                     if not f.endswith('.po'):
                         continue
-                    stderr.write('processing file %s in %s\n' % (f, dirpath))
+                    stdout.write('processing file %s in %s\n' % (f, dirpath))
                     fn = os.path.join(dirpath, f)
                     if has_bom(fn):
                         raise CommandError("The %s file has a BOM (Byte Order Mark). Django only supports .po files encoded in UTF-8 and without any BOM." % fn)
@@ -68,4 +68,4 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
 
     def handle(self, **options):
         locale = options.get('locale')
-        compile_messages(self.stderr, locale=locale)
+        compile_messages(self.stdout, locale=locale)
diff --git a/tests/i18n/commands/compilation.py b/tests/i18n/commands/compilation.py
index aeeb3a4b0c..12bb89ed08 100644
--- a/tests/i18n/commands/compilation.py
+++ b/tests/i18n/commands/compilation.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class PoFileTests(MessageCompilationTests):
 
     def test_bom_rejection(self):
         with self.assertRaises(CommandError) as cm:
-            call_command('compilemessages', locale=self.LOCALE, stderr=StringIO())
+            call_command('compilemessages', locale=self.LOCALE, stdout=StringIO())
         self.assertIn("file has a BOM (Byte Order Mark)", cm.exception.args[0])
         self.assertFalse(os.path.exists(self.MO_FILE))
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class PoFileContentsTests(MessageCompilationTests):
         self.addCleanup(os.unlink, os.path.join(test_dir, self.MO_FILE))
 
     def test_percent_symbol_in_po_file(self):
-        call_command('compilemessages', locale=self.LOCALE, stderr=StringIO())
+        call_command('compilemessages', locale=self.LOCALE, stdout=StringIO())
         self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(self.MO_FILE))
 
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ class PercentRenderingTests(MessageCompilationTests):
     @override_settings(LOCALE_PATHS=(os.path.join(test_dir, 'locale'),))
     def test_percent_symbol_escaping(self):
         from django.template import Template, Context
-        call_command('compilemessages', locale=self.LOCALE, stderr=StringIO())
+        call_command('compilemessages', locale=self.LOCALE, stdout=StringIO())
         with translation.override(self.LOCALE):
             t = Template('{% load i18n %}{% trans "Looks like a str fmt spec %% o but shouldn\'t be interpreted as such" %}')
             rendered = t.render(Context({}))
@@ -88,12 +88,12 @@ class MultipleLocaleCompilationTests(MessageCompilationTests):
         self.addCleanup(self.rmfile, os.path.join(localedir, self.MO_FILE_FR))
 
     def test_one_locale(self):
-        call_command('compilemessages', locale='hr', stderr=StringIO())
+        call_command('compilemessages', locale='hr', stdout=StringIO())
 
         self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(self.MO_FILE_HR))
 
     def test_multiple_locales(self):
-        call_command('compilemessages', locale=['hr', 'fr'], stderr=StringIO())
+        call_command('compilemessages', locale=['hr', 'fr'], stdout=StringIO())
 
         self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(self.MO_FILE_HR))
         self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(self.MO_FILE_FR))
@@ -110,4 +110,4 @@ class CompilationErrorHandling(MessageCompilationTests):
 
     def test_error_reported_by_msgfmt(self):
         with self.assertRaises(CommandError):
-            call_command('compilemessages', locale=self.LOCALE, stderr=StringIO())
+            call_command('compilemessages', locale=self.LOCALE, stdout=StringIO())