diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/sites.py b/django/contrib/admin/sites.py
index e375bc608f..72e0b9aea5 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/sites.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/sites.py
@@ -389,9 +389,9 @@ class AdminSite(object):
             'app_list': app_list,
         }
         context.update(extra_context or {})
-        return TemplateResponse(request, [
-            self.index_template or 'admin/index.html',
-        ], context, current_app=self.name)
+        return TemplateResponse(request, self.index_template or
+                                'admin/index.html', context,
+                                current_app=self.name)
 
     def app_index(self, request, app_label, extra_context=None):
         user = request.user
diff --git a/django/contrib/auth/admin.py b/django/contrib/auth/admin.py
index 86442b9078..d15a387a7e 100644
--- a/django/contrib/auth/admin.py
+++ b/django/contrib/auth/admin.py
@@ -148,10 +148,10 @@ class UserAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
             'save_as': False,
             'show_save': True,
         }
-        return TemplateResponse(request, [
+        return TemplateResponse(request,
             self.change_user_password_template or
-            'admin/auth/user/change_password.html'
-        ], context, current_app=self.admin_site.name)
+            'admin/auth/user/change_password.html',
+            context, current_app=self.admin_site.name)
 
     def response_add(self, request, obj, **kwargs):
         """
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/customadmin.py b/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/customadmin.py
index 031fb50f0f..d69d690af0 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/customadmin.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/customadmin.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class Admin2(admin.AdminSite):
     login_form = forms.CustomAdminAuthenticationForm
     login_template = 'custom_admin/login.html'
     logout_template = 'custom_admin/logout.html'
-    index_template = 'custom_admin/index.html'
+    index_template = ['custom_admin/index.html'] # a list, to test fix for #18697
     password_change_template = 'custom_admin/password_change_form.html'
     password_change_done_template = 'custom_admin/password_change_done.html'
 
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ class UserLimitedAdmin(UserAdmin):
         return qs.filter(is_superuser=False)
 
 
+class CustomPwdTemplateUserAdmin(UserAdmin):
+    change_user_password_template = ['admin/auth/user/change_password.html'] # a list, to test fix for #18697
+
+
 site = Admin2(name="admin2")
 
 site.register(models.Article, base_admin.ArticleAdmin)
@@ -50,3 +54,6 @@ site.register(models.ChapterXtra1, base_admin.ChapterXtra1Admin)
 site.register(User, UserLimitedAdmin)
 site.register(models.UndeletableObject, base_admin.UndeletableObjectAdmin)
 site.register(models.Simple, base_admin.AttributeErrorRaisingAdmin)
+
+simple_site = Admin2(name='admin4')
+simple_site.register(User, CustomPwdTemplateUserAdmin)
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/tests.py
index 62f69f6d94..d52ccafbd6 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/tests.py
@@ -770,7 +770,10 @@ class CustomModelAdminTest(AdminViewBasicTest):
         self.assertContains(response, 'Hello from a custom logout template')
 
     def testCustomAdminSiteIndexViewAndTemplate(self):
-        response = self.client.get('/test_admin/admin2/')
+        try:
+            response = self.client.get('/test_admin/admin2/')
+        except TypeError:
+            self.fail('AdminSite.index_template should accept a list of template paths')
         self.assertIsInstance(response, TemplateResponse)
         self.assertTemplateUsed(response, 'custom_admin/index.html')
         self.assertContains(response, 'Hello from a custom index template *bar*')
@@ -792,6 +795,15 @@ class CustomModelAdminTest(AdminViewBasicTest):
         response = self.client.get('/test_admin/%s/my_view/' % self.urlbit)
         self.assertEqual(response.content, b"Django is a magical pony!")
 
+    def test_pwd_change_custom_template(self):
+        self.client.login(username='super', password='secret')
+        su = User.objects.get(username='super')
+        try:
+            response = self.client.get('/test_admin/admin4/auth/user/%s/password/' % su.pk)
+        except TypeError:
+            self.fail('ModelAdmin.change_user_password_template should accept a list of template paths')
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+
 
 def get_perm(Model, perm):
     """Return the permission object, for the Model"""
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/urls.py b/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/urls.py
index da6e2cbcf9..441834cd2a 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/urls.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/admin_views/urls.py
@@ -11,4 +11,5 @@ urlpatterns = patterns('',
     (r'^test_admin/admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
     (r'^test_admin/admin2/', include(customadmin.site.urls)),
     (r'^test_admin/admin3/', include(admin.site.urls), dict(form_url='pony')),
+    (r'^test_admin/admin4/', include(customadmin.simple_site.urls)),
 )