diff --git a/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py b/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
index 5cb21f5e3b..48d9ad4c4b 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/sqlite3/base.py
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
 
     def _cursor(self, settings):
         if self.connection is None:
+            if not settings.DATABASE_NAME:
+                from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
+                raise ImproperlyConfigured, "Please fill out DATABASE_NAME in the settings module before using the database."
             kwargs = {
                 'database': settings.DATABASE_NAME,
                 'detect_types': Database.PARSE_DECLTYPES | Database.PARSE_COLNAMES,