diff --git a/django/utils/http.py b/django/utils/http.py
index 6e782bd576..40a7d5f083 100644
--- a/django/utils/http.py
+++ b/django/utils/http.py
@@ -290,6 +290,8 @@ def is_safe_url(url, host=None):
         url = url.strip()
     if not url:
         return False
+    if six.PY2:
+        url = force_text(url, errors='replace')
     # Chrome treats \ completely as / in paths but it could be part of some
     # basic auth credentials so we need to check both URLs.
     return _is_safe_url(url, host) and _is_safe_url(url.replace('\\', '/'), host)
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.8.11.txt b/docs/releases/1.8.11.txt
index 9837371f7b..b01807129b 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.8.11.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/1.8.11.txt
@@ -2,11 +2,7 @@
 Django 1.8.11 release notes
 ===========================
 
-*Under development*
+*March 4, 2016*
 
-Django 1.8.11 fixes several bugs in 1.8.10.
-
-Bugfixes
-========
-
-* ...
+Django 1.8.11 fixes a regression on Python 2 in the 1.8.10 security release
+where ``utils.http.is_safe_url()`` crashes on bytestring URLs (:ticket:`26308`).
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.9.4.txt b/docs/releases/1.9.4.txt
index 15adcee329..d3f66bb7a1 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.9.4.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/1.9.4.txt
@@ -2,11 +2,7 @@
 Django 1.9.4 release notes
 ==========================
 
-*Under development*
+*March 4, 2016*
 
-Django 1.9.4 fixes several bugs in 1.9.3.
-
-Bugfixes
-========
-
-* ...
+Django 1.9.4 fixes a regression on Python 2 in the 1.9.3 security release
+where ``utils.http.is_safe_url()`` crashes on bytestring URLs (:ticket:`26308`).
diff --git a/tests/utils_tests/test_http.py b/tests/utils_tests/test_http.py
index 2a9b553b6a..3a1bbbf66e 100644
--- a/tests/utils_tests/test_http.py
+++ b/tests/utils_tests/test_http.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import sys
@@ -114,6 +115,17 @@ class TestUtilsHttp(unittest.TestCase):
                      'http://testserver/confirm?email=me@example.com',
                      '/url%20with%20spaces/'):
             self.assertTrue(http.is_safe_url(good_url, host='testserver'), "%s should be allowed" % good_url)
+
+        if six.PY2:
+            # Check binary URLs, regression tests for #26308
+            self.assertTrue(
+                http.is_safe_url(b'https://testserver/', host='testserver'),
+                "binary URLs should be allowed on Python 2"
+            )
+            self.assertFalse(http.is_safe_url(b'\x08//example.com', host='testserver'))
+            self.assertTrue(http.is_safe_url('àview/'.encode('utf-8'), host='testserver'))
+            self.assertTrue(http.is_safe_url('àview'.encode('latin-1'), host='testserver'))
+
         # Valid basic auth credentials are allowed.
         self.assertTrue(http.is_safe_url(r'http://user:pass@testserver/', host='user:pass@testserver'))
         # A path without host is allowed.