diff --git a/django/contrib/syndication/feeds.py b/django/contrib/syndication/feeds.py
index 547afb17f3d..eb5a9f0607c 100644
--- a/django/contrib/syndication/feeds.py
+++ b/django/contrib/syndication/feeds.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured, ObjectDoesNotExist
 from django.template import Context, loader, Template, TemplateDoesNotExist
-from django.contrib.sites.models import Site
+from django.contrib.sites.models import Site, RequestSite
 from django.utils import feedgenerator
 from django.utils.encoding import smart_unicode, iri_to_uri
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -22,9 +22,10 @@ class Feed(object):
     title_template = None
     description_template = None
 
-    def __init__(self, slug, feed_url):
+    def __init__(self, slug, request):
         self.slug = slug
-        self.feed_url = feed_url
+        self.request = request
+        self.feed_url = request.path
         self.title_template_name = self.title_template or ('feeds/%s_title.html' % slug)
         self.description_template_name = self.description_template or ('feeds/%s_description.html' % slug)
 
@@ -67,7 +68,11 @@ class Feed(object):
         else:
             obj = None
 
-        current_site = Site.objects.get_current()
+        if Site._meta.installed:
+            current_site = Site.objects.get_current()
+        else:
+            current_site = RequestSite(self.request)
+
         link = self.__get_dynamic_attr('link', obj)
         link = add_domain(current_site.domain, link)
 
diff --git a/django/contrib/syndication/views.py b/django/contrib/syndication/views.py
index 621665d4d42..423d333991d 100644
--- a/django/contrib/syndication/views.py
+++ b/django/contrib/syndication/views.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def feed(request, url, feed_dict=None):
         raise Http404, "Slug %r isn't registered." % slug
 
     try:
-        feedgen = f(slug, request.path).get_feed(param)
+        feedgen = f(slug, request).get_feed(param)
     except feeds.FeedDoesNotExist:
         raise Http404, "Invalid feed parameters. Slug %r is valid, but other parameters, or lack thereof, are not." % slug
 
diff --git a/docs/syndication_feeds.txt b/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
index fe70f2ae7de..393572f3e21 100644
--- a/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
+++ b/docs/syndication_feeds.txt
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ To create a feed, just write a ``Feed`` class and point to it in your URLconf_.
 Initialization
 --------------
 
+If you're not using the latest Django development version, you'll need to make
+sure Django's sites framework is installed -- including its database table.
+(See the `sites framework documentation`_ for more information.) This has
+changed in the Django development version; the syndication feed framework no
+longer requires the sites framework.
+
 To activate syndication feeds on your Django site, add this line to your
 URLconf_::
 
@@ -72,6 +78,7 @@ The above example registers two feeds:
 
 Once that's set up, you just need to define the ``Feed`` classes themselves.
 
+.. _sites framework documentation: ../sites/
 .. _URLconf: ../url_dispatch/
 .. _settings file: ../settings/
 
@@ -131,9 +138,14 @@ put into those elements.
 
           * ``{{ obj }}`` -- The current object (one of whichever objects you
             returned in ``items()``).
-          * ``{{ site }}`` -- A ``django.models.core.sites.Site`` object
+          * ``{{ site }}`` -- A ``django.contrib.sites.models.Site`` object
             representing the current site. This is useful for
-            ``{{ site.domain }}`` or ``{{ site.name }}``.
+            ``{{ site.domain }}`` or ``{{ site.name }}``. Note that if you're
+            using the latest Django development version and do *not* have the
+            Django sites framework installed, this will be set to a
+            ``django.contrib.sites.models.RequestSite`` object. See the
+            `RequestSite section of the sites framework documentation`_ for
+            more.
 
       If you don't create a template for either the title or description, the
       framework will use the template ``"{{ obj }}"`` by default -- that is,
@@ -164,6 +176,7 @@ put into those elements.
 .. _chicagocrime.org: http://www.chicagocrime.org/
 .. _object-relational mapper: ../db-api/
 .. _Django templates: ../templates/
+.. _RequestSite section of the sites framework documentation: ../sites/#requestsite-objects
 
 A complex example
 -----------------