diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index e41a4aa4db1..cec85c093fb 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -575,6 +575,7 @@ answer newbie questions, and generally made Django that much better:
     Aaron Swartz <http://www.aaronsw.com/>
     Ville Säävuori <http://www.unessa.net/>
     Mart Sõmermaa <http://mrts.pri.ee/>
+    Susan Tan <susan.tan.fleckerl@gmail.com>
     Christian Tanzer <tanzer@swing.co.at>
     Tyler Tarabula <tyler.tarabula@gmail.com>
     Tyson Tate <tyson@fallingbullets.com>
diff --git a/django/contrib/auth/models.py b/django/contrib/auth/models.py
index cf3d37e5c39..cf1ca8ca1f1 100644
--- a/django/contrib/auth/models.py
+++ b/django/contrib/auth/models.py
@@ -400,11 +400,11 @@ class AbstractUser(AbstractBaseUser, PermissionsMixin):
         "Returns the short name for the user."
         return self.first_name
 
-    def email_user(self, subject, message, from_email=None):
+    def email_user(self, subject, message, from_email=None, **kwargs):
         """
         Sends an email to this User.
         """
-        send_mail(subject, message, from_email, [self.email])
+        send_mail(subject, message, from_email, [self.email], **kwargs)
 
 
 class User(AbstractUser):
diff --git a/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_models.py b/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_models.py
index fa20775a8dd..1373a3c1c16 100644
--- a/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_models.py
+++ b/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_models.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-from django.contrib.auth.models import Group, User, UserManager
+from django.contrib.auth.models import AbstractUser, Group, User, UserManager
 from django.contrib.auth.tests.utils import skipIfCustomUser
+from django.core import mail
 from django.db.models.signals import post_save
 from django.test import TestCase
 from django.test.utils import override_settings
@@ -73,6 +74,29 @@ class UserManagerTestCase(TestCase):
                                   User.objects.create_user, username='')
 
 
+class AbstractUserTestCase(TestCase):
+    def test_email_user(self):
+        # valid send_mail parameters
+        kwargs = {
+            "fail_silently": False,
+            "auth_user": None,
+            "auth_password": None,
+            "connection": None,
+            "html_message": None,
+        }
+        abstract_user = AbstractUser(email='foo@bar.com')
+        abstract_user.email_user(subject="Subject here",
+            message="This is a message", from_email="from@domain.com", **kwargs)
+        # Test that one message has been sent.
+        self.assertEqual(len(mail.outbox), 1)
+        # Verify that test email contains the correct attributes:
+        message = mail.outbox[0]
+        self.assertEqual(message.subject, "Subject here")
+        self.assertEqual(message.body, "This is a message")
+        self.assertEqual(message.from_email, "from@domain.com")
+        self.assertEqual(message.to, [abstract_user.email])
+
+
 class IsActiveTestCase(TestCase):
     """
     Tests the behavior of the guaranteed is_active attribute
diff --git a/docs/ref/contrib/auth.txt b/docs/ref/contrib/auth.txt
index 4fe87e98728..ba4c9425a5b 100644
--- a/docs/ref/contrib/auth.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/contrib/auth.txt
@@ -215,11 +215,16 @@ Methods
         (the Django app label). If the user is inactive, this method will
         always return ``False``.
 
-    .. method:: email_user(subject, message, from_email=None)
+    .. method:: email_user(subject, message, from_email=None, **kwargs)
 
         Sends an email to the user. If ``from_email`` is ``None``, Django uses
         the :setting:`DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL`.
 
+        .. versionchanged:: 1.7
+
+            Any ``**kwargs`` are passed to the underlying
+            :meth:`~django.core.mail.send_mail()` call.
+
 Manager methods
 ---------------
 
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.7.txt b/docs/releases/1.7.txt
index 9fe8fc89dfa..f4bbd058d69 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.7.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/1.7.txt
@@ -152,6 +152,10 @@ Minor features
   Each radio button or checkbox includes an ``id_for_label`` attribute to
   output the element's ID.
 
+* Any ``**kwargs`` passed to
+  :meth:`~django.contrib.auth.models.User.email_user()` are passed to the
+  underlying :meth:`~django.core.mail.send_mail()` call.
+
 Backwards incompatible changes in 1.7
 =====================================