diff --git a/docs/syndication_feeds.txt b/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
index ebd6af26f8..f86acfe54d 100644
--- a/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
+++ b/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
@@ -245,6 +245,13 @@ request to the URL ``/rss/beats/0613/``:
       subclass of ``ObjectDoesNotExist``. Raising ``ObjectDoesNotExist`` in
       ``get_object()`` tells Django to produce a 404 error for that request.
 
+      **New in Django development version:** The ``get_object()`` method also
+      has a chance to handle the ``/rss/beats/`` url.  In this case, ``bits``
+      will be an empty list. In our example, ``len(bits) != 1`` and an
+      ``ObjectDoesNotExist`` exception will be raised, so ``/rss/beats/`` will
+      generate a 404 page. But you can handle this case however you like.  For
+      example you could generate a combined feed for all beats.
+
     * To generate the feed's ``<title>``, ``<link>`` and ``<description>``,
       Django uses the ``title()``, ``link()`` and ``description()`` methods. In
       the previous example, they were simple string class attributes, but this
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/syndication/__init__.py b/tests/regressiontests/syndication/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/syndication/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/syndication/tests.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a9dd643d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/syndication/tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+from django.test import TestCase
+from django.test.client import Client
+
+class SyndicationFeedTest(TestCase):
+    def test_complex_base_url(self):
+        """
+        Tests that that the base url for a complex feed doesn't raise a 500
+        exception.
+        """
+        c = Client()
+        response = c.get('/syndication/feeds/complex/')
+        self.assertEquals(response.status_code, 404)
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/syndication/urls.py b/tests/regressiontests/syndication/urls.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..24644ffd53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/syndication/urls.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+from django.conf.urls.defaults import patterns
+from django.core.exceptions import ObjectDoesNotExist
+from django.contrib.syndication import feeds
+
+
+class ComplexFeed(feeds.Feed):
+    def get_object(self, bits):
+        if len(bits) != 1:
+            raise ObjectDoesNotExist
+        return None
+
+
+urlpatterns = patterns('',
+    (r'^feeds/(?P<url>.*)/$', 'django.contrib.syndication.views.feed', {
+        'feed_dict': dict(
+            complex = ComplexFeed,
+        )}),
+)
diff --git a/tests/urls.py b/tests/urls.py
index 41b4aaf6d3..dbdf9a8064 100644
--- a/tests/urls.py
+++ b/tests/urls.py
@@ -19,4 +19,7 @@ urlpatterns = patterns('',
     (r'^middleware/', include('regressiontests.middleware.urls')),
 
     (r'^utils/', include('regressiontests.utils.urls')),
+
+    # test urlconf for syndication tests
+    (r'^syndication/', include('regressiontests.syndication.urls')),
 )