diff --git a/django/core/cache/__init__.py b/django/core/cache/__init__.py
index b76ddcf0384..b97c7469bbd 100644
--- a/django/core/cache/__init__.py
+++ b/django/core/cache/__init__.py
@@ -126,12 +126,12 @@ def parse_backend_conf(backend, **kwargs):
         location = args.pop('LOCATION', '')
         return backend, location, args
     else:
-        # Trying to import the given backend, in case it's a dotted path
-        mod_path, cls_name = backend.rsplit('.', 1)
         try:
+            # Trying to import the given backend, in case it's a dotted path
+            mod_path, cls_name = backend.rsplit('.', 1)
             mod = importlib.import_module(mod_path)
             backend_cls = getattr(mod, cls_name)
-        except (AttributeError, ImportError):
+        except (AttributeError, ImportError, ValueError):
             raise InvalidCacheBackendError("Could not find backend '%s'" % backend)
         location = kwargs.pop('LOCATION', '')
         return backend, location, kwargs
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
index ad7a2f86dc1..6f1aa0d24f1 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import warnings
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core import management
 from django.core.cache import get_cache, DEFAULT_CACHE_ALIAS
-from django.core.cache.backends.base import CacheKeyWarning
+from django.core.cache.backends.base import CacheKeyWarning, InvalidCacheBackendError
 from django.db import connections, router
 from django.http import HttpResponse, HttpRequest, QueryDict
 from django.middleware.cache import FetchFromCacheMiddleware, UpdateCacheMiddleware, CacheMiddleware
@@ -938,6 +938,23 @@ class CustomCacheKeyValidationTests(unittest.TestCase):
         cache.set(key, val)
         self.assertEqual(cache.get(key), val)
 
+
+class GetCacheTests(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_simple(self):
+        cache = get_cache('locmem://')
+        from django.core.cache.backends.locmem import LocMemCache
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(cache, LocMemCache))
+
+        from django.core.cache import cache
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(cache, get_cache('default').__class__))
+
+        cache = get_cache(
+            'django.core.cache.backends.dummy.DummyCache', **{'TIMEOUT': 120})
+        self.assertEqual(cache.default_timeout, 120)
+
+        self.assertRaises(InvalidCacheBackendError, get_cache, 'does_not_exist')
+
 class CacheUtils(unittest.TestCase):
     """TestCase for django.utils.cache functions."""