diff --git a/django/test/testcases.py b/django/test/testcases.py
index 2b1ef912b68..260b060c45a 100644
--- a/django/test/testcases.py
+++ b/django/test/testcases.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ try:
     from urllib.parse import urlsplit, urlunsplit
 except ImportError:     # Python 2
     from urlparse import urlsplit, urlunsplit
-from xml.dom.minidom import parseString, Node
 import select
 import socket
 import threading
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ from django.test.client import Client
 from django.test.html import HTMLParseError, parse_html
 from django.test.signals import template_rendered
 from django.test.utils import (get_warnings_state, restore_warnings_state,
-    override_settings)
+    override_settings, compare_xml, strip_quotes)
 from django.test.utils import ContextList
 from django.utils import unittest as ut2
 from django.utils.encoding import force_text
@@ -134,70 +133,16 @@ class OutputChecker(doctest.OutputChecker):
             optionflags)
 
     def check_output_xml(self, want, got, optionsflags):
-        """Tries to do a 'xml-comparision' of want and got.  Plain string
-        comparision doesn't always work because, for example, attribute
-        ordering should not be important.
-
-        Based on http://codespeak.net/svn/lxml/trunk/src/lxml/doctestcompare.py
-        """
-        _norm_whitespace_re = re.compile(r'[ \t\n][ \t\n]+')
-        def norm_whitespace(v):
-            return _norm_whitespace_re.sub(' ', v)
-
-        def child_text(element):
-            return ''.join([c.data for c in element.childNodes
-                            if c.nodeType == Node.TEXT_NODE])
-
-        def children(element):
-            return [c for c in element.childNodes
-                    if c.nodeType == Node.ELEMENT_NODE]
-
-        def norm_child_text(element):
-            return norm_whitespace(child_text(element))
-
-        def attrs_dict(element):
-            return dict(element.attributes.items())
-
-        def check_element(want_element, got_element):
-            if want_element.tagName != got_element.tagName:
-                return False
-            if norm_child_text(want_element) != norm_child_text(got_element):
-                return False
-            if attrs_dict(want_element) != attrs_dict(got_element):
-                return False
-            want_children = children(want_element)
-            got_children = children(got_element)
-            if len(want_children) != len(got_children):
-                return False
-            for want, got in zip(want_children, got_children):
-                if not check_element(want, got):
-                    return False
-            return True
-
-        want, got = self._strip_quotes(want, got)
-        want = want.replace('\\n','\n')
-        got = got.replace('\\n','\n')
-
-        # If the string is not a complete xml document, we may need to add a
-        # root element. This allow us to compare fragments, like "<foo/><bar/>"
-        if not want.startswith('<?xml'):
-            wrapper = '<root>%s</root>'
-            want = wrapper % want
-            got = wrapper % got
-
-        # Parse the want and got strings, and compare the parsings.
         try:
-            want_root = parseString(want).firstChild
-            got_root = parseString(got).firstChild
+            return compare_xml(want, got)
         except Exception:
             return False
-        return check_element(want_root, got_root)
 
     def check_output_json(self, want, got, optionsflags):
         """
         Tries to compare want and got as if they were JSON-encoded data
         """
-        want, got = self._strip_quotes(want, got)
+        want, got = strip_quotes(want, got)
         try:
             want_json = json.loads(want)
             got_json = json.loads(got)
@@ -205,37 +150,6 @@ class OutputChecker(doctest.OutputChecker):
             return False
         return want_json == got_json
 
-    def _strip_quotes(self, want, got):
-        """
-        Strip quotes of doctests output values:
-
-        >>> o = OutputChecker()
-        >>> o._strip_quotes("'foo'")
-        "foo"
-        >>> o._strip_quotes('"foo"')
-        "foo"
-        """
-        def is_quoted_string(s):
-            s = s.strip()
-            return (len(s) >= 2
-                    and s[0] == s[-1]
-                    and s[0] in ('"', "'"))
-
-        def is_quoted_unicode(s):
-            s = s.strip()
-            return (len(s) >= 3
-                    and s[0] == 'u'
-                    and s[1] == s[-1]
-                    and s[1] in ('"', "'"))
-
-        if is_quoted_string(want) and is_quoted_string(got):
-            want = want.strip()[1:-1]
-            got = got.strip()[1:-1]
-        elif is_quoted_unicode(want) and is_quoted_unicode(got):
-            want = want.strip()[2:-1]
-            got = got.strip()[2:-1]
-        return want, got
-
 
 class DocTestRunner(doctest.DocTestRunner):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
@@ -445,6 +359,38 @@ class SimpleTestCase(ut2.TestCase):
                 safe_repr(dom1, True), safe_repr(dom2, True))
             self.fail(self._formatMessage(msg, standardMsg))
 
+    def assertXMLEqual(self, xml1, xml2, msg=None):
+        """
+        Asserts that two XML snippets are semantically the same.
+        Whitespace in most cases is ignored, and attribute ordering is not
+        significant. The passed-in arguments must be valid XML.
+        """
+        try:
+            result = compare_xml(xml1, xml2)
+        except Exception as e:
+            standardMsg = 'First or second argument is not valid XML\n%s' % e
+            self.fail(self._formatMessage(msg, standardMsg))
+        else:
+            if not result:
+                standardMsg = '%s != %s' % (safe_repr(xml1, True), safe_repr(xml2, True))
+                self.fail(self._formatMessage(msg, standardMsg))
+
+    def assertXMLNotEqual(self, xml1, xml2, msg=None):
+        """
+        Asserts that two XML snippets are not semantically equivalent.
+        Whitespace in most cases is ignored, and attribute ordering is not
+        significant. The passed-in arguments must be valid XML.
+        """
+        try:
+            result = compare_xml(xml1, xml2)
+        except Exception as e:
+            standardMsg = 'First or second argument is not valid XML\n%s' % e
+            self.fail(self._formatMessage(msg, standardMsg))
+        else:
+            if result:
+                standardMsg = '%s == %s' % (safe_repr(xml1, True), safe_repr(xml2, True))
+                self.fail(self._formatMessage(msg, standardMsg))
+
 
 class TransactionTestCase(SimpleTestCase):
 
diff --git a/django/test/utils.py b/django/test/utils.py
index 4fbe6f824e9..71252eaac8c 100644
--- a/django/test/utils.py
+++ b/django/test/utils.py
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+import re
 import warnings
+from xml.dom.minidom import parseString, Node
+
 from django.conf import settings, UserSettingsHolder
 from django.core import mail
 from django.test.signals import template_rendered, setting_changed
@@ -223,5 +226,94 @@ class override_settings(object):
                                  setting=key, value=new_value)
 
 
+def compare_xml(want, got):
+    """Tries to do a 'xml-comparision' of want and got.  Plain string
+    comparision doesn't always work because, for example, attribute
+    ordering should not be important.
+
+    Based on http://codespeak.net/svn/lxml/trunk/src/lxml/doctestcompare.py
+    """
+    _norm_whitespace_re = re.compile(r'[ \t\n][ \t\n]+')
+    def norm_whitespace(v):
+        return _norm_whitespace_re.sub(' ', v)
+
+    def child_text(element):
+        return ''.join([c.data for c in element.childNodes
+                        if c.nodeType == Node.TEXT_NODE])
+
+    def children(element):
+        return [c for c in element.childNodes
+                if c.nodeType == Node.ELEMENT_NODE]
+
+    def norm_child_text(element):
+        return norm_whitespace(child_text(element))
+
+    def attrs_dict(element):
+        return dict(element.attributes.items())
+
+    def check_element(want_element, got_element):
+        if want_element.tagName != got_element.tagName:
+            return False
+        if norm_child_text(want_element) != norm_child_text(got_element):
+            return False
+        if attrs_dict(want_element) != attrs_dict(got_element):
+            return False
+        want_children = children(want_element)
+        got_children = children(got_element)
+        if len(want_children) != len(got_children):
+            return False
+        for want, got in zip(want_children, got_children):
+            if not check_element(want, got):
+                return False
+        return True
+
+    want, got = strip_quotes(want, got)
+    want = want.replace('\\n','\n')
+    got = got.replace('\\n','\n')
+
+    # If the string is not a complete xml document, we may need to add a
+    # root element. This allow us to compare fragments, like "<foo/><bar/>"
+    if not want.startswith('<?xml'):
+        wrapper = '<root>%s</root>'
+        want = wrapper % want
+        got = wrapper % got
+
+    # Parse the want and got strings, and compare the parsings.
+    want_root = parseString(want).firstChild
+    got_root = parseString(got).firstChild
+
+    return check_element(want_root, got_root)
+
+
+def strip_quotes(want, got):
+    """
+    Strip quotes of doctests output values:
+
+    >>> strip_quotes("'foo'")
+    "foo"
+    >>> strip_quotes('"foo"')
+    "foo"
+    """
+    def is_quoted_string(s):
+        s = s.strip()
+        return (len(s) >= 2
+                and s[0] == s[-1]
+                and s[0] in ('"', "'"))
+
+    def is_quoted_unicode(s):
+        s = s.strip()
+        return (len(s) >= 3
+                and s[0] == 'u'
+                and s[1] == s[-1]
+                and s[1] in ('"', "'"))
+
+    if is_quoted_string(want) and is_quoted_string(got):
+        want = want.strip()[1:-1]
+        got = got.strip()[1:-1]
+    elif is_quoted_unicode(want) and is_quoted_unicode(got):
+        want = want.strip()[2:-1]
+        got = got.strip()[2:-1]
+    return want, got
+
 def str_prefix(s):
     return s % {'_': '' if six.PY3 else 'u'}
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.5.txt b/docs/releases/1.5.txt
index d87ec362048..e99b2fd5789 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.5.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/1.5.txt
@@ -198,6 +198,11 @@ Django 1.5 also includes several smaller improvements worth noting:
 * The loaddata management command now supports an `ignorenonexistent` option to
   ignore data for fields that no longer exist.
 
+* :meth:`~django.test.SimpleTestCase.assertXMLEqual` and
+  :meth:`~django.test.SimpleTestCase.assertXMLNotEqual` new assertions allow
+  you to test equality for XML content at a semantic level, without caring for
+  syntax differences (spaces, attribute order, etc.).
+
 Backwards incompatible changes in 1.5
 =====================================
 
diff --git a/docs/topics/testing.txt b/docs/topics/testing.txt
index 3950e1c9173..895e721ef55 100644
--- a/docs/topics/testing.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/testing.txt
@@ -1783,6 +1783,25 @@ your test suite.
     ``html1`` and ``html2`` must be valid HTML. An ``AssertionError`` will be
     raised if one of them cannot be parsed.
 
+.. method:: SimpleTestCase.assertXMLEqual(xml1, xml2, msg=None)
+
+    .. versionadded:: 1.5
+
+    Asserts that the strings ``xml1`` and ``xml2`` are equal. The
+    comparison is based on XML semantics. Similarily to
+    :meth:`~SimpleTestCase.assertHTMLEqual`, the comparison is
+    made on parsed content, hence only semantic differences are considered, not
+    syntax differences. When unvalid XML is passed in any parameter, an
+    ``AssertionError`` is always raised, even if both string are identical.
+
+.. method:: SimpleTestCase.assertXMLNotEqual(xml1, xml2, msg=None)
+
+    .. versionadded:: 1.5
+
+    Asserts that the strings ``xml1`` and ``xml2`` are *not* equal. The
+    comparison is based on XML semantics. See
+    :meth:`~SimpleTestCase.assertXMLEqual` for details.
+
 .. _topics-testing-email:
 
 Email services
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/test_utils/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/test_utils/tests.py
index 12c639cee10..dec157eacbc 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/test_utils/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/test_utils/tests.py
@@ -450,6 +450,41 @@ class HTMLEqualTests(TestCase):
         self.assertContains(response, '<p class="help">Some help text for the title (with unicode ŠĐĆŽćžšđ)</p>', html=True)
 
 
+class XMLEqualTests(TestCase):
+    def test_simple_equal(self):
+        xml1 = "<elem attr1='a' attr2='b' />"
+        xml2 = "<elem attr1='a' attr2='b' />"
+        self.assertXMLEqual(xml1, xml2)
+
+    def test_simple_equal_unordered(self):
+        xml1 = "<elem attr1='a' attr2='b' />"
+        xml2 = "<elem attr2='b' attr1='a' />"
+        self.assertXMLEqual(xml1, xml2)
+
+    def test_simple_equal_raise(self):
+        xml1 = "<elem attr1='a' />"
+        xml2 = "<elem attr2='b' attr1='a' />"
+        with self.assertRaises(AssertionError):
+            self.assertXMLEqual(xml1, xml2)
+
+    def test_simple_not_equal(self):
+        xml1 = "<elem attr1='a' attr2='c' />"
+        xml2 = "<elem attr1='a' attr2='b' />"
+        self.assertXMLNotEqual(xml1, xml2)
+
+    def test_simple_not_equal_raise(self):
+        xml1 = "<elem attr1='a' attr2='b' />"
+        xml2 = "<elem attr2='b' attr1='a' />"
+        with self.assertRaises(AssertionError):
+            self.assertXMLNotEqual(xml1, xml2)
+
+    def test_parsing_errors(self):
+        xml_unvalid = "<elem attr1='a attr2='b' />"
+        xml2 = "<elem attr2='b' attr1='a' />"
+        with self.assertRaises(AssertionError):
+            self.assertXMLNotEqual(xml_unvalid, xml2)
+
+
 class SkippingExtraTests(TestCase):
     fixtures = ['should_not_be_loaded.json']