diff --git a/django/contrib/auth/models.py b/django/contrib/auth/models.py
index f6380b9f24..c9c202355d 100644
--- a/django/contrib/auth/models.py
+++ b/django/contrib/auth/models.py
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ class BaseUserManager(models.Manager):
 
 class UserManager(BaseUserManager):
 
-    def create_user(self, username, email=None, password=None, **extra_fields):
+    def _create_user(self, username, email, password,
+                     is_staff, is_superuser, **extra_fields):
         """
         Creates and saves a User with the given username, email and password.
         """
@@ -179,20 +180,20 @@ class UserManager(BaseUserManager):
             raise ValueError('The given username must be set')
         email = self.normalize_email(email)
         user = self.model(username=username, email=email,
-                          is_staff=False, is_active=True, is_superuser=False,
-                          last_login=now, date_joined=now, **extra_fields)
-
+                          is_staff=is_staff, is_active=True,
+                          is_superuser=is_superuser, last_login=now,
+                          date_joined=now, **extra_fields)
         user.set_password(password)
         user.save(using=self._db)
         return user
 
+    def create_user(self, username, email=None, password=None, **extra_fields):
+        return self._create_user(username, email, password, False, False,
+                                 **extra_fields)
+
     def create_superuser(self, username, email, password, **extra_fields):
-        u = self.create_user(username, email, password, **extra_fields)
-        u.is_staff = True
-        u.is_active = True
-        u.is_superuser = True
-        u.save(using=self._db)
-        return u
+        return self._create_user(username, email, password, True, True,
+                                 **extra_fields)
 
 
 @python_2_unicode_compatible
diff --git a/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_models.py b/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_models.py
index cf412c96e6..b0a4559b42 100644
--- a/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_models.py
+++ b/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_models.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 from django.contrib.auth.models import (Group, User, SiteProfileNotAvailable,
     UserManager)
 from django.contrib.auth.tests.utils import skipIfCustomUser
+from django.db.models.signals import post_save
 from django.test import TestCase
 from django.test.utils import override_settings
 from django.utils import six
@@ -140,3 +141,27 @@ class IsActiveTestCase(TestCase):
         user_fetched = UserModel._default_manager.get(pk=user.pk)
         # the attribute is always true for newly retrieved instance
         self.assertEqual(user_fetched.is_active, True)
+
+
+@skipIfCustomUser
+class TestCreateSuperUserSignals(TestCase):
+    """
+    Simple test case for ticket #20541
+    """
+    def post_save_listener(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.signals_count += 1
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.signals_count = 0
+        post_save.connect(self.post_save_listener, sender=User)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        post_save.disconnect(self.post_save_listener, sender=User)
+
+    def test_create_user(self):
+        User.objects.create_user("JohnDoe")
+        self.assertEqual(self.signals_count, 1)
+
+    def test_create_superuser(self):
+        User.objects.create_superuser("JohnDoe", "mail@example.com", "1")
+        self.assertEqual(self.signals_count, 1)