diff --git a/docs/topics/db/optimization.txt b/docs/topics/db/optimization.txt
index 772792d39d9..b5cca52e23e 100644
--- a/docs/topics/db/optimization.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/db/optimization.txt
@@ -132,6 +132,41 @@ Write your own :doc:`custom SQL to retrieve data or populate models
 </topics/db/sql>`. Use ``django.db.connection.queries`` to find out what Django
 is writing for you and start from there.
 
+Retrieve individual objects using a unique, indexed column
+==========================================================
+
+There are two reasons to use a column with
+:attr:`~django.db.models.Field.unique` or
+:attr:`~django.db.models.Field.db_index` when using
+:meth:`~django.db.models.query.QuerySet.get` to retrieve individual objects.
+First, the query will be quicker because of the underlying database index.
+Also, the query could run much slower if multiple objects match the lookup;
+having a unique constraint on the column guarantees this will never happen.
+
+So using the :ref:`example Weblog models <queryset-model-example>`::
+
+  >>> entry = Entry.objects.get(id=10)
+
+will be quicker than:
+
+  >>> entry = Entry.object.get(headline="News Item Title")
+
+because ``id`` is indexed by the database and is guaranteed to be unique.
+
+Doing the following is potentially quite slow:
+
+  >>> entry = Entry.objects.get(headline__startswith="News")
+
+First of all, `headline` is not indexed, which will make the underlying
+database fetch slower.
+
+Second, the lookup doesn't guarantee that only one object will be returned.
+If the query matches more than one object, it will retrieve and transfer all of
+them from the database. This penalty could be substantial if hundreds or
+thousands of records are returned. The penalty will be compounded if the
+database lives on a separate server, where network overhead and latency also
+play a factor.
+
 Retrieve everything at once if you know you will need it
 ========================================================
 
diff --git a/tests/modeltests/basic/tests.py b/tests/modeltests/basic/tests.py
index ebd70d14d9a..1c83b980a73 100644
--- a/tests/modeltests/basic/tests.py
+++ b/tests/modeltests/basic/tests.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import, unicode_literals
 
 from datetime import datetime
 
-from django.core.exceptions import ObjectDoesNotExist
+from django.core.exceptions import ObjectDoesNotExist, MultipleObjectsReturned
 from django.db.models.fields import Field, FieldDoesNotExist
 from django.test import TestCase, skipIfDBFeature, skipUnlessDBFeature
 from django.utils import six
@@ -128,6 +128,40 @@ class ModelTest(TestCase):
         b = Article.objects.get(pk=a.id)
         self.assertEqual(a, b)
 
+        # Create a very similar object
+        a = Article(
+            id=None,
+            headline='Area man programs in Python',
+            pub_date=datetime(2005, 7, 28),
+        )
+        a.save()
+
+        self.assertEqual(Article.objects.count(), 2)
+
+        # Django raises an Article.MultipleObjectsReturned exception if the
+        # lookup matches more than one object
+        self.assertRaisesRegexp(
+            MultipleObjectsReturned,
+            "get\(\) returned more than one Article -- it returned 2!",
+            Article.objects.get,
+            headline__startswith='Area',
+        )
+
+        self.assertRaisesRegexp(
+            MultipleObjectsReturned,
+            "get\(\) returned more than one Article -- it returned 2!",
+            Article.objects.get,
+            pub_date__year=2005,
+        )
+
+        self.assertRaisesRegexp(
+            MultipleObjectsReturned,
+            "get\(\) returned more than one Article -- it returned 2!",
+            Article.objects.get,
+            pub_date__year=2005,
+            pub_date__month=7,
+        )
+
     def test_object_creation(self):
         # Create an Article.
         a = Article(