diff --git a/django/db/backends/creation.py b/django/db/backends/creation.py
index 866031447d..7c14b6a09c 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/creation.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/creation.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import warnings
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db.utils import load_backend
 from django.utils.encoding import force_bytes
+from django.utils.functional import cached_property
 from django.utils.six.moves import input
 
 from .utils import truncate_name
@@ -29,6 +30,24 @@ class BaseDatabaseCreation(object):
     def __init__(self, connection):
         self.connection = connection
 
+    @cached_property
+    def _nodb_connection(self):
+        """
+        Alternative connection to be used when there is no need to access
+        the main database, specifically for test db creation/deletion.
+        This also prevents the production database from being exposed to
+        potential child threads while (or after) the test database is destroyed.
+        Refs #10868, #17786, #16969.
+        """
+        settings_dict = self.connection.settings_dict.copy()
+        settings_dict['NAME'] = None
+        backend = load_backend(settings_dict['ENGINE'])
+        nodb_connection = backend.DatabaseWrapper(
+             settings_dict,
+             alias='__no_db__',
+             allow_thread_sharing=False)
+        return nodb_connection
+
     @classmethod
     def _digest(cls, *args):
         """
@@ -386,7 +405,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseCreation(object):
         qn = self.connection.ops.quote_name
 
         # Create the test database and connect to it.
-        cursor = self.connection.cursor()
+        cursor = self._nodb_connection.cursor()
         try:
             cursor.execute(
                 "CREATE DATABASE %s %s" % (qn(test_database_name), suffix))
@@ -431,18 +450,7 @@ class BaseDatabaseCreation(object):
             print("Destroying test database for alias '%s'%s..." % (
                 self.connection.alias, test_db_repr))
 
-        # Temporarily use a new connection and a copy of the settings dict.
-        # This prevents the production database from being exposed to potential
-        # child threads while (or after) the test database is destroyed.
-        # Refs #10868 and #17786.
-        settings_dict = self.connection.settings_dict.copy()
-        settings_dict['NAME'] = old_database_name
-        backend = load_backend(settings_dict['ENGINE'])
-        new_connection = backend.DatabaseWrapper(
-            settings_dict,
-            alias='__destroy_test_db__',
-            allow_thread_sharing=False)
-        new_connection.creation._destroy_test_db(test_database_name, verbosity)
+        self._destroy_test_db(test_database_name, verbosity)
 
     def _destroy_test_db(self, test_database_name, verbosity):
         """
@@ -452,12 +460,11 @@ class BaseDatabaseCreation(object):
         # ourselves. Connect to the previous database (not the test database)
         # to do so, because it's not allowed to delete a database while being
         # connected to it.
-        cursor = self.connection.cursor()
+        cursor = self._nodb_connection.cursor()
         # Wait to avoid "database is being accessed by other users" errors.
         time.sleep(1)
         cursor.execute("DROP DATABASE %s"
                        % self.connection.ops.quote_name(test_database_name))
-        self.connection.close()
 
     def set_autocommit(self):
         """
diff --git a/django/db/backends/postgresql_psycopg2/base.py b/django/db/backends/postgresql_psycopg2/base.py
index b22c653bd7..cb23c33a5c 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/postgresql_psycopg2/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/postgresql_psycopg2/base.py
@@ -101,13 +101,14 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
 
     def get_connection_params(self):
         settings_dict = self.settings_dict
-        if not settings_dict['NAME']:
+        # None may be used to connect to the default 'postgres' db
+        if settings_dict['NAME'] == '':
             from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
             raise ImproperlyConfigured(
                 "settings.DATABASES is improperly configured. "
                 "Please supply the NAME value.")
         conn_params = {
-            'database': settings_dict['NAME'],
+            'database': settings_dict['NAME'] or 'postgres',
         }
         conn_params.update(settings_dict['OPTIONS'])
         if 'autocommit' in conn_params:
diff --git a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
index 99969e36d6..e83d0bef17 100644
--- a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
+++ b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
@@ -76,17 +76,21 @@ If you're using a backend that isn't SQLite, you will need to provide other
 details for each database:
 
 * The :setting:`USER` option needs to specify an existing user account
-  for the database.
+  for the database. That user needs permission to execute ``CREATE DATABASE``
+  so that the test database can be created.
 
 * The :setting:`PASSWORD` option needs to provide the password for
   the :setting:`USER` that has been specified.
 
-* The :setting:`NAME` option must be the name of an existing database to
-  which the given user has permission to connect. The unit tests will not
-  touch this database; the test runner creates a new database whose name
-  is :setting:`NAME` prefixed with ``test_``, and this test database is
-  deleted when the tests are finished. This means your user account needs
-  permission to execute ``CREATE DATABASE``.
+Test databases get their names by prepending ``test_`` to the value of the
+:setting:`NAME` settings for the databases defined in :setting:`DATABASES`.
+These test databases are deleted when the tests are finished.
+
+.. versionchanged:: 1.7
+
+    Before Django 1.7, the :setting:`NAME` setting was mandatory and had to
+    be the name of an existing database to which the given user had permission
+    to connect.
 
 You will also need to ensure that your database uses UTF-8 as the default
 character set. If your database server doesn't use UTF-8 as a default charset,