diff --git a/django/template/defaulttags.py b/django/template/defaulttags.py
index ea49c1932c2..1eceaf41202 100644
--- a/django/template/defaulttags.py
+++ b/django/template/defaulttags.py
@@ -2,12 +2,14 @@
 
 import sys
 import re
+from datetime import datetime
 from itertools import groupby, cycle as itertools_cycle
 
 from django.template.base import Node, NodeList, Template, Context, Variable
 from django.template.base import TemplateSyntaxError, VariableDoesNotExist, BLOCK_TAG_START, BLOCK_TAG_END, VARIABLE_TAG_START, VARIABLE_TAG_END, SINGLE_BRACE_START, SINGLE_BRACE_END, COMMENT_TAG_START, COMMENT_TAG_END
 from django.template.base import get_library, Library, InvalidTemplateLibrary
 from django.template.smartif import IfParser, Literal
+from django.template.defaultfilters import date
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.utils.encoding import smart_str, smart_unicode
 from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
@@ -380,10 +382,7 @@ class NowNode(Node):
         self.format_string = format_string
 
     def render(self, context):
-        from datetime import datetime
-        from django.utils.dateformat import DateFormat
-        df = DateFormat(datetime.now())
-        return df.format(self.format_string)
+        return date(datetime.now(), self.format_string)
 
 class SpacelessNode(Node):
     def __init__(self, nodelist):
diff --git a/docs/ref/templates/builtins.txt b/docs/ref/templates/builtins.txt
index 1767b5ba07c..29bed25db9d 100644
--- a/docs/ref/templates/builtins.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/templates/builtins.txt
@@ -727,6 +727,18 @@ escaped, because it's not a format character::
 
 This would display as "It is the 4th of September".
 
+.. versionchanged:: 1.4
+
+.. note::
+
+    The format passed can also be one of the predefined ones
+    :setting:`DATE_FORMAT`, :setting:`DATETIME_FORMAT`,
+    :setting:`SHORT_DATE_FORMAT` or :setting:`SHORT_DATETIME_FORMAT`.
+    The predefined formats may vary depending on the current locale and
+    if :ref:`format-localization` is enabled, e.g.::
+
+        It is {% now "SHORT_DATETIME_FORMAT" %}
+
 .. templatetag:: regroup
 
 regroup
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/i18n/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/i18n/tests.py
index bedc2fea753..e3add3e3d82 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/i18n/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/i18n/tests.py
@@ -305,6 +305,7 @@ class FormattingTests(TestCase):
             self.assertEqual(u'10:15:48', Template('{{ t|time:"TIME_FORMAT" }}').render(self.ctxt))
             self.assertEqual(u'31/12/2009', Template('{{ d|date:"SHORT_DATE_FORMAT" }}').render(self.ctxt))
             self.assertEqual(u'31/12/2009 20:50', Template('{{ dt|date:"SHORT_DATETIME_FORMAT" }}').render(self.ctxt))
+            self.assertEqual(date_format(datetime.datetime.now(), "DATE_FORMAT"), Template('{% now "DATE_FORMAT" %}').render(self.ctxt))
 
             form4 = I18nForm({
                 'decimal_field': u'66666,666',
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/templates/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/templates/tests.py
index 75f3b4f412d..abfdb8d7354 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/templates/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/templates/tests.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from django.template.loaders import app_directories, filesystem, cached
 from django.test.utils import get_warnings_state, restore_warnings_state,\
     setup_test_template_loader, restore_template_loaders
 from django.utils import unittest
+from django.utils.formats import date_format
 from django.utils.translation import activate, deactivate, ugettext as _
 from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
 from django.utils.tzinfo import LocalTimezone
@@ -1422,6 +1423,8 @@ class Templates(unittest.TestCase):
             'now02': ('{% now "j "n" Y"%}', {}, template.TemplateSyntaxError),
         #    'now03': ('{% now "j \"n\" Y"%}', {}, str(datetime.now().day) + '"' + str(datetime.now().month) + '"' + str(datetime.now().year)),
         #    'now04': ('{% now "j \nn\n Y"%}', {}, str(datetime.now().day) + '\n' + str(datetime.now().month) + '\n' + str(datetime.now().year))
+            # Check parsing of locale strings
+            'now05': ('{% now "DATE_FORMAT" %}', {},  date_format(datetime.now())),
 
             ### URL TAG ########################################################
             # Successes