diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/views/doc.py b/django/contrib/admin/views/doc.py
index 5d73933139..0545d49367 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/views/doc.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/views/doc.py
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ DATA_TYPE_MAPPING = {
     'PhoneNumberField'          : _('Phone number'),
     'PositiveIntegerField'      : _('Integer'),
     'PositiveSmallIntegerField' : _('Integer'),
-    'SlugField'                 : _('String (up to 50)'),
+    'SlugField'                 : _('String (up to %(maxlength)s)'),
     'SmallIntegerField'         : _('Integer'),
     'TextField'                 : _('Text'),
     'TimeField'                 : _('Time'),
diff --git a/django/core/db/backends/ado_mssql.py b/django/core/db/backends/ado_mssql.py
index bb5b628aca..80f174a7b2 100644
--- a/django/core/db/backends/ado_mssql.py
+++ b/django/core/db/backends/ado_mssql.py
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ DATA_TYPES = {
     'PhoneNumberField':  'varchar(20)',
     'PositiveIntegerField': 'int CONSTRAINT [CK_int_pos_%(column)s] CHECK ([%(column)s] > 0)',
     'PositiveSmallIntegerField': 'smallint CONSTRAINT [CK_smallint_pos_%(column)s] CHECK ([%(column)s] > 0)',
-    'SlugField':         'varchar(50)',
+    'SlugField':         'varchar(%(maxlength)s)',
     'SmallIntegerField': 'smallint',
     'TextField':         'text',
     'TimeField':         'time',
diff --git a/django/core/db/backends/mysql.py b/django/core/db/backends/mysql.py
index 84fe416f64..66376cdd1e 100644
--- a/django/core/db/backends/mysql.py
+++ b/django/core/db/backends/mysql.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ DATA_TYPES = {
     'PhoneNumberField':  'varchar(20)',
     'PositiveIntegerField': 'integer UNSIGNED',
     'PositiveSmallIntegerField': 'smallint UNSIGNED',
-    'SlugField':         'varchar(50)',
+    'SlugField':         'varchar(%(maxlength)s)',
     'SmallIntegerField': 'smallint',
     'TextField':         'longtext',
     'TimeField':         'time',
diff --git a/django/core/db/backends/postgresql.py b/django/core/db/backends/postgresql.py
index f70e8366f1..dcbd719bdc 100644
--- a/django/core/db/backends/postgresql.py
+++ b/django/core/db/backends/postgresql.py
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ DATA_TYPES = {
     'PhoneNumberField':  'varchar(20)',
     'PositiveIntegerField': 'integer CHECK ("%(column)s" >= 0)',
     'PositiveSmallIntegerField': 'smallint CHECK ("%(column)s" >= 0)',
-    'SlugField':         'varchar(50)',
+    'SlugField':         'varchar(%(maxlength)s)',
     'SmallIntegerField': 'smallint',
     'TextField':         'text',
     'TimeField':         'time',
diff --git a/django/core/db/backends/sqlite3.py b/django/core/db/backends/sqlite3.py
index 55e7d2af30..b8a661cf2b 100644
--- a/django/core/db/backends/sqlite3.py
+++ b/django/core/db/backends/sqlite3.py
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ DATA_TYPES = {
     'PhoneNumberField':             'varchar(20)',
     'PositiveIntegerField':         'integer unsigned',
     'PositiveSmallIntegerField':    'smallint unsigned',
-    'SlugField':                    'varchar(50)',
+    'SlugField':                    'varchar(%(maxlength)s)',
     'SmallIntegerField':            'smallint',
     'TextField':                    'text',
     'TimeField':                    'time',
diff --git a/django/core/meta/fields.py b/django/core/meta/fields.py
index e8ae73a84d..ea9f5d4bcc 100644
--- a/django/core/meta/fields.py
+++ b/django/core/meta/fields.py
@@ -604,7 +604,8 @@ class PositiveSmallIntegerField(IntegerField):
 
 class SlugField(Field):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        kwargs['maxlength'] = 50
+        # Default to a maxlength of 50 but allow overrides.
+        kwargs['maxlength'] = kwargs.get('maxlength', 50)
         kwargs.setdefault('validator_list', []).append(validators.isSlug)
         # Set db_index=True unless it's been set manually.
         if not kwargs.has_key('db_index'):
diff --git a/docs/model-api.txt b/docs/model-api.txt
index d7ac7d6fe5..e84de76db7 100644
--- a/docs/model-api.txt
+++ b/docs/model-api.txt
@@ -410,7 +410,11 @@ Here are all available field types:
     containing only letters, numbers, underscores or hyphens. They're generally
     used in URLs.
 
-    Implies ``maxlength=50`` and ``db_index=True``.
+    In the Django development version, you can specify ``maxlength``. If
+    ``maxlength`` is not specified, Django will use a default length of 50. In
+    previous Django versions, there's no way to override the length of 50.
+
+    Implies ``db_index=True``.
 
     Accepts an extra option, ``prepopulate_from``, which is a list of fields
     from which to auto-populate the slug, via JavaScript, in the object's admin