diff --git a/docs/ref/models/querysets.txt b/docs/ref/models/querysets.txt
index f72b4bb2d07..0780f83719c 100644
--- a/docs/ref/models/querysets.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/models/querysets.txt
@@ -1331,17 +1331,18 @@ backends support ``select_for_update()``. However, MySQL has no support for the
 ``nowait`` argument. Obviously, users of external third-party backends should
 check with their backend's documentation for specifics in those cases.
 
-Passing ``nowait=True`` to ``select_for_update`` using database backends that
+Passing ``nowait=True`` to ``select_for_update()`` using database backends that
 do not support ``nowait``, such as MySQL, will cause a
 :exc:`~django.db.DatabaseError` to be raised. This is in order to prevent code
 unexpectedly blocking.
 
-Evaluating a queryset with ``select_for_update`` in autocommit mode is
-an error because the rows are then not locked. If allowed, this would
-facilitate data corruption, and could easily be caused by calling,
-outside of any transaction, code that expects to be run in one.
+Evaluating a queryset with ``select_for_update()`` in autocommit mode is
+a :exc:`~django.db.transaction.TransactionManagementError` error because the
+rows are not locked in that case. If allowed, this would facilitate data
+corruption and could easily be caused by calling code that expects to be run in
+a transaction outside of one.
 
-Using ``select_for_update`` on backends which do not support
+Using ``select_for_update()`` on backends which do not support
 ``SELECT ... FOR UPDATE`` (such as SQLite) will have no effect.
 
 .. versionchanged:: 1.6.3
@@ -1349,6 +1350,16 @@ Using ``select_for_update`` on backends which do not support
     It is now an error to execute a query with ``select_for_update()`` in
     autocommit mode. With earlier releases in the 1.6 series it was a no-op.
 
+.. warning::
+
+    Although ``select_for_update()`` normally fails in autocommit mode, since
+    :class:`~django.test.TestCase` automatically wraps each test in a
+    transaction, calling ``select_for_update()`` in a ``TestCase`` even outside
+    an :func:`~django.db.transaction.atomic()` block will (perhaps unexpectedly)
+    pass without raising a ``TransactionManagementError``. To properly test
+    ``select_for_update()`` you should use
+    :class:`~django.test.TransactionTestCase`.
+
 Methods that do not return QuerySets
 ------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/docs/topics/testing/tools.txt b/docs/topics/testing/tools.txt
index 3961ce852ae..db11475a6f8 100644
--- a/docs/topics/testing/tools.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/testing/tools.txt
@@ -623,7 +623,10 @@ to test the effects of commit and rollback:
     While ``commit`` and ``rollback`` operations still *appear* to work when
     used in ``TestCase``, no actual commit or rollback will be performed by the
     database. This can cause your tests to pass or fail unexpectedly. Always
-    use ``TransactionTestCase`` when testing transactional behavior.
+    use ``TransactionTestCase`` when testing transactional behavior or any code
+    that can't normally be excuted in autocommit mode
+    (:meth:`~django.db.models.query.QuerySet.select_for_update()` is an
+    example).
 
 .. versionchanged:: 1.5