diff --git a/docs/ref/databases.txt b/docs/ref/databases.txt
index d900ce49df..ef2e1b8583 100644
--- a/docs/ref/databases.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/databases.txt
@@ -277,6 +277,17 @@ making it impossible to use :class:`django.db.models.BinaryField`.
 
 .. _MySQL-for-Python-3: https://github.com/clelland/MySQL-for-Python-3
 
+.. _mysql-time-zone-definitions:
+
+Time zone definitions
+---------------------
+
+If you plan on using Django's :doc:`timezone support </topics/i18n/timezones>`,
+use `mysql_tzinfo_to_sql`_ to load time zone tables into the MySQL database.
+This needs to be done just once for your MySQL server, not per database.
+
+.. _mysql_tzinfo_to_sql: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/mysql-tzinfo-to-sql.html
+
 Creating your database
 ----------------------
 
diff --git a/docs/topics/i18n/timezones.txt b/docs/topics/i18n/timezones.txt
index 5e3a482154..839813a823 100644
--- a/docs/topics/i18n/timezones.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/i18n/timezones.txt
@@ -649,6 +649,12 @@ Troubleshooting
        >>> local.date()
        datetime.date(2012, 3, 3)
 
+4. **I get an error** "``Are time zone definitions for your database and pytz
+   installed?``" **pytz is installed, so I guess the problem is my database?**
+
+   If you are using MySQL, see the :ref:`mysql-time-zone-definitions` section
+   of the MySQL notes for instructions on loading time zone definitions.
+
 Usage
 -----