diff --git a/django/views/generic/base.py b/django/views/generic/base.py
index 7f60ff0773..d732af5d66 100644
--- a/django/views/generic/base.py
+++ b/django/views/generic/base.py
@@ -102,7 +102,9 @@ class TemplateResponseMixin(object):
         a list. May not be called if render_to_response is overridden.
         """
         if self.template_name is None:
-            return []
+            raise ImproperlyConfigured(
+                "TemplateResponseMixin requires either a definition of "
+                "'template_name' or an implementation of 'get_template_names()'")
         else:
             return [self.template_name]
 
diff --git a/django/views/generic/detail.py b/django/views/generic/detail.py
index dafdbe87b3..4fa93e1ec2 100644
--- a/django/views/generic/detail.py
+++ b/django/views/generic/detail.py
@@ -108,7 +108,12 @@ class SingleObjectTemplateResponseMixin(TemplateResponseMixin):
         Return a list of template names to be used for the request. Must return
         a list. May not be called if get_template is overridden.
         """
-        names = super(SingleObjectTemplateResponseMixin, self).get_template_names()
+        try:
+            names = super(SingleObjectTemplateResponseMixin, self).get_template_names()
+        except ImproperlyConfigured:
+            # If template_name isn't specified, it's not a problem --
+            # we just start with an empty list.
+            names = []
 
         # If self.template_name_field is set, grab the value of the field
         # of that name from the object; this is the most specific template
diff --git a/django/views/generic/list.py b/django/views/generic/list.py
index 213b89b64d..dde23faf40 100644
--- a/django/views/generic/list.py
+++ b/django/views/generic/list.py
@@ -127,7 +127,12 @@ class MultipleObjectTemplateResponseMixin(TemplateResponseMixin):
         Return a list of template names to be used for the request. Must return
         a list. May not be called if get_template is overridden.
         """
-        names = super(MultipleObjectTemplateResponseMixin, self).get_template_names()
+        try:
+            names = super(MultipleObjectTemplateResponseMixin, self).get_template_names()
+        except ImproperlyConfigured:
+            # If template_name isn't specified, it's not a problem --
+            # we just start with an empty list.
+            names = []
 
         # If the list is a queryset, we'll invent a template name based on the
         # app and model name. This name gets put at the end of the template
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/base.py b/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/base.py
index c378315b62..9f20fc4ca1 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/base.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/base.py
@@ -181,6 +181,12 @@ class TemplateViewTest(TestCase):
         """
         self._assert_about(TemplateView.as_view(template_name='generic_views/about.html')(self.rf.get('/about/')))
 
+    def test_template_name_required(self):
+        """
+        A template view must provide a template name
+        """
+        self.assertRaises(ImproperlyConfigured, self.client.get, '/template/no_template/')
+
     def test_template_params(self):
         """
         A generic template view passes kwargs as context.
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/urls.py b/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/urls.py
index 4c847ac78d..e5d75d585c 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/urls.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/generic_views/urls.py
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ urlpatterns = patterns('',
     #    views.DecoratedAboutView()),
 
     # TemplateView
+    (r'^template/no_template/$',
+        TemplateView.as_view()),
     (r'^template/simple/(?P<foo>\w+)/$',
         TemplateView.as_view(template_name='generic_views/about.html')),
     (r'^template/custom/(?P<foo>\w+)/$',