diff --git a/django/middleware/csrf.py b/django/middleware/csrf.py
index 8891a44109..6d16a92bf5 100644
--- a/django/middleware/csrf.py
+++ b/django/middleware/csrf.py
@@ -40,15 +40,17 @@ def _get_new_csrf_key():
 def get_token(request):
     """
     Returns the CSRF token required for a POST form. The token is an
-    alphanumeric value.
+    alphanumeric value. A new token is created if one is not already set.
 
     A side effect of calling this function is to make the csrf_protect
     decorator and the CsrfViewMiddleware add a CSRF cookie and a 'Vary: Cookie'
     header to the outgoing response.  For this reason, you may need to use this
     function lazily, as is done by the csrf context processor.
     """
+    if "CSRF_COOKIE" not in request.META:
+        request.META["CSRF_COOKIE"] = _get_new_csrf_key()
     request.META["CSRF_COOKIE_USED"] = True
-    return request.META.get("CSRF_COOKIE", None)
+    return request.META["CSRF_COOKIE"]
 
 
 def rotate_token(request):
@@ -112,9 +114,6 @@ class CsrfViewMiddleware(object):
             request.META['CSRF_COOKIE'] = csrf_token
         except KeyError:
             csrf_token = None
-            # Generate token and store it in the request, so it's
-            # available to the view.
-            request.META["CSRF_COOKIE"] = _get_new_csrf_key()
 
         # Wait until request.META["CSRF_COOKIE"] has been manipulated before
         # bailing out, so that get_token still works
@@ -194,12 +193,6 @@ class CsrfViewMiddleware(object):
         if getattr(response, 'csrf_processing_done', False):
             return response
 
-        # If CSRF_COOKIE is unset, then CsrfViewMiddleware.process_view was
-        # never called, probably because a request middleware returned a response
-        # (for example, contrib.auth redirecting to a login page).
-        if request.META.get("CSRF_COOKIE") is None:
-            return response
-
         if not request.META.get("CSRF_COOKIE_USED", False):
             return response
 
diff --git a/tests/auth_tests/test_views.py b/tests/auth_tests/test_views.py
index 5ebe9f2938..033d083e18 100644
--- a/tests/auth_tests/test_views.py
+++ b/tests/auth_tests/test_views.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from django.core import mail
 from django.core.urlresolvers import NoReverseMatch, reverse, reverse_lazy
 from django.db import connection
 from django.http import HttpRequest, QueryDict
-from django.middleware.csrf import CsrfViewMiddleware
+from django.middleware.csrf import CsrfViewMiddleware, get_token
 from django.test import (
     TestCase, ignore_warnings, modify_settings, override_settings,
 )
@@ -606,7 +606,8 @@ class LoginTest(AuthViewsTestCase):
         # TestClient isn't used here as we're testing middleware, essentially.
         req = HttpRequest()
         CsrfViewMiddleware().process_view(req, login_view, (), {})
-        req.META["CSRF_COOKIE_USED"] = True
+        # get_token() triggers CSRF token inclusion in the response
+        get_token(req)
         resp = login_view(req)
         resp2 = CsrfViewMiddleware().process_response(req, resp)
         csrf_cookie = resp2.cookies.get(settings.CSRF_COOKIE_NAME, None)
diff --git a/tests/csrf_tests/tests.py b/tests/csrf_tests/tests.py
index 7469da34b2..29ce2c170c 100644
--- a/tests/csrf_tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/csrf_tests/tests.py
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ import logging
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.http import HttpRequest, HttpResponse
-from django.middleware.csrf import CSRF_KEY_LENGTH, CsrfViewMiddleware
+from django.middleware.csrf import (
+    CSRF_KEY_LENGTH, CsrfViewMiddleware, get_token,
+)
 from django.template import RequestContext, Template
 from django.template.context_processors import csrf
 from django.test import TestCase, override_settings
@@ -237,7 +239,10 @@ class CsrfViewMiddlewareTest(TestCase):
         """
         req = self._get_GET_no_csrf_cookie_request()
         resp = token_view(req)
-        self.assertEqual(resp.content, b'')
+
+        token = get_token(req)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(token)
+        self._check_token_present(resp, token)
 
     def test_token_node_empty_csrf_cookie(self):
         """
@@ -248,7 +253,9 @@ class CsrfViewMiddlewareTest(TestCase):
         CsrfViewMiddleware().process_view(req, token_view, (), {})
         resp = token_view(req)
 
-        self.assertNotEqual("", resp.content)
+        token = get_token(req)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(token)
+        self._check_token_present(resp, token)
 
     def test_token_node_with_csrf_cookie(self):
         """