diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/sites.py b/django/contrib/admin/sites.py
index e2b246aec3..8b579853d4 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/sites.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/sites.py
@@ -398,7 +398,8 @@ class AdminSite(object):
             'root_path': self.root_path,
         }
         context.update(extra_context or {})
-        return render_to_response(self.app_index_template or 'admin/app_index.html', context,
+        return render_to_response(self.app_index_template or ('admin/%s/app_index.html' % app_label,
+            'admin/app_index.html'), context,
             context_instance=template.RequestContext(request)
         )
 
diff --git a/docs/ref/contrib/admin/index.txt b/docs/ref/contrib/admin/index.txt
index e0a1b79b2d..1c14a77a9c 100644
--- a/docs/ref/contrib/admin/index.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/contrib/admin/index.txt
@@ -1130,6 +1130,7 @@ Templates which may be overridden per app or model
 Not every template in ``contrib\admin\templates\admin`` may be overridden per
 app or per model. The following can:
 
+    * ``app_index.html``
     * ``change_form.html``
     * ``change_list.html``
     * ``delete_confirmation.html``