diff --git a/docs/internals/contributing.txt b/docs/internals/contributing.txt
index 2c08bcd77b..9cce80e3c9 100644
--- a/docs/internals/contributing.txt
+++ b/docs/internals/contributing.txt
@@ -730,8 +730,7 @@ To run the tests, ``cd`` to the ``tests/`` directory and type:
     ./runtests.py --settings=path.to.django.settings
 
 Yes, the unit tests need a settings module, but only for database connection
-info, with the ``DATABASE_ENGINE`` setting. You'll also need a ``ROOT_URLCONF``
-setting (its value is ignored; it just needs to be present).
+info, with the ``DATABASE_ENGINE`` setting.
 
 If you're using the ``sqlite3`` database backend, no further settings are
 needed. A temporary database will be created in memory when running the tests.
diff --git a/tests/runtests.py b/tests/runtests.py
index ee7b1a5cda..dc0f9df63c 100755
--- a/tests/runtests.py
+++ b/tests/runtests.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def django_tests(verbosity, interactive, test_labels):
 
     old_installed_apps = settings.INSTALLED_APPS
     old_test_database_name = settings.TEST_DATABASE_NAME
-    old_root_urlconf = settings.ROOT_URLCONF
+    old_root_urlconf = getattr(settings, "ROOT_URLCONF", "")
     old_template_dirs = settings.TEMPLATE_DIRS
     old_use_i18n = settings.USE_I18N
     old_login_url = settings.LOGIN_URL