diff --git a/django/middleware/common.py b/django/middleware/common.py
index fb55412c9b..4dd2e14652 100644
--- a/django/middleware/common.py
+++ b/django/middleware/common.py
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class CommonMiddleware(object):
                 new_url[0], urlquote(new_url[1]))
         else:
             newurl = urlquote(new_url[1])
-        if request.GET:
+        if request.META.get('QUERY_STRING', ''):
             newurl += '?' + request.META['QUERY_STRING']
         return http.HttpResponsePermanentRedirect(newurl)
 
diff --git a/django/test/client.py b/django/test/client.py
index e143c748b9..a5ef075f3c 100644
--- a/django/test/client.py
+++ b/django/test/client.py
@@ -182,18 +182,18 @@ class RequestFactory(object):
         """
         The base environment for a request.
         """
+        # This is a minimal valid WSGI environ dictionary, plus HTTP_COOKIE
+        # for cookie support. Empty strings are omitted.
+        # See http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3333/#environ-variables
         environ = {
             'HTTP_COOKIE':       self.cookies.output(header='', sep='; '),
-            'PATH_INFO':         '/',
-            'QUERY_STRING':      '',
-            'REMOTE_ADDR':       '127.0.0.1',
             'REQUEST_METHOD':    'GET',
-            'SCRIPT_NAME':       '',
             'SERVER_NAME':       'testserver',
             'SERVER_PORT':       '80',
             'SERVER_PROTOCOL':   'HTTP/1.1',
             'wsgi.version':      (1,0),
             'wsgi.url_scheme':   'http',
+            'wsgi.input':        FakePayload(''),
             'wsgi.errors':       self.errors,
             'wsgi.multiprocess': True,
             'wsgi.multithread':  False,
@@ -235,7 +235,6 @@ class RequestFactory(object):
             'PATH_INFO':       self._get_path(parsed),
             'QUERY_STRING':    urlencode(data, doseq=True) or parsed[4],
             'REQUEST_METHOD': 'GET',
-            'wsgi.input':      FakePayload('')
         }
         r.update(extra)
         return self.request(**r)
@@ -267,7 +266,6 @@ class RequestFactory(object):
             'PATH_INFO':       self._get_path(parsed),
             'QUERY_STRING':    urlencode(data, doseq=True) or parsed[4],
             'REQUEST_METHOD': 'HEAD',
-            'wsgi.input':      FakePayload('')
         }
         r.update(extra)
         return self.request(**r)
@@ -280,7 +278,6 @@ class RequestFactory(object):
             'PATH_INFO':       self._get_path(parsed),
             'QUERY_STRING':    urlencode(data, doseq=True) or parsed[4],
             'REQUEST_METHOD': 'OPTIONS',
-            'wsgi.input':      FakePayload('')
         }
         r.update(extra)
         return self.request(**r)
@@ -311,7 +308,6 @@ class RequestFactory(object):
             'PATH_INFO':       self._get_path(parsed),
             'QUERY_STRING':    urlencode(data, doseq=True) or parsed[4],
             'REQUEST_METHOD': 'DELETE',
-            'wsgi.input':      FakePayload('')
         }
         r.update(extra)
         return self.request(**r)
diff --git a/django/views/generic/base.py b/django/views/generic/base.py
index f2d495021d..ea14281a71 100644
--- a/django/views/generic/base.py
+++ b/django/views/generic/base.py
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ class RedirectView(View):
         are provided as kwargs to this method.
         """
         if self.url:
-            args = self.request.META["QUERY_STRING"]
+            args = self.request.META.get('QUERY_STRING', '')
             if args and self.query_string:
                 url = "%s?%s" % (self.url, args)
             else:
diff --git a/django/views/generic/simple.py b/django/views/generic/simple.py
index 26df504c2b..0e1e6b083a 100644
--- a/django/views/generic/simple.py
+++ b/django/views/generic/simple.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def redirect_to(request, url, permanent=True, query_string=False, **kwargs):
     from the request is appended to the URL.
 
     """
-    args = request.META["QUERY_STRING"]
+    args = request.META.get('QUERY_STRING', '')
     if args and query_string and url is not None:
         url = "%s?%s" % (url, args)
 
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/base.py b/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/base.py
index 40490a421c..00fa0d9b79 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/base.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/base.py
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ class RedirectViewTest(unittest.TestCase):
         response = RedirectView.as_view()(self.rf.get('/foo/'))
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 410)
 
-    def test_permanaent_redirect(self):
+    def test_permanent_redirect(self):
         "Default is a permanent redirect"
         response = RedirectView.as_view(url='/bar/')(self.rf.get('/foo/'))
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 301)
@@ -305,3 +305,9 @@ class RedirectViewTest(unittest.TestCase):
         response = RedirectView.as_view(url='/bar/')(self.rf.delete('/foo/'))
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 301)
         self.assertEqual(response['Location'], '/bar/')
+
+    def test_redirect_when_meta_contains_no_query_string(self):
+        "regression for #16705"
+        # we can't use self.rf.get because it always sets QUERY_STRING
+        response = RedirectView.as_view(url='/bar/')(self.rf.request(PATH_INFO='/foo/'))
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 301)
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/views/tests/generic/simple.py b/tests/regressiontests/views/tests/generic/simple.py
index 6bf6f50832..be54af9185 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/views/tests/generic/simple.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/views/tests/generic/simple.py
@@ -47,3 +47,10 @@ class RedirectToTest(TestCase):
         response = self.client.get('/simple/redirect_to_query/?param1=foo&param2=bar')
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 301)
         self.assertEqual('http://testserver/simple/target/?param1=foo&param2=bar', response['Location'])
+
+    def test_redirect_to_when_meta_contains_no_query_string(self):
+        "regression for #16705"
+        # we can't use self.client.get because it always sets QUERY_STRING
+        response = self.client.request(PATH_INFO='/simple/redirect_to/')
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 301)
+