diff --git a/django/contrib/auth/create_superuser.py b/django/contrib/auth/create_superuser.py
index ab5ca36f50..f42d30539e 100644
--- a/django/contrib/auth/create_superuser.py
+++ b/django/contrib/auth/create_superuser.py
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 """
 Helper function for creating superusers in the authentication system.
+
+If run from the command line, this module lets you create a superuser
+interactively.
 """
 
 from django.core import validators
@@ -82,3 +85,6 @@ def createsuperuser(username=None, email=None, password=None):
     u.is_superuser = True
     u.save()
     print "Superuser created successfully."
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    createsuperuser()
diff --git a/docs/authentication.txt b/docs/authentication.txt
index 8f618f8a20..0b7094188d 100644
--- a/docs/authentication.txt
+++ b/docs/authentication.txt
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ install what's needed.
 
 The ``syncdb`` command creates the necessary database tables, creates
 permission objects for all installed apps that need 'em, and prompts you to
-create a superuser account.
+create a superuser account the first time you run it.
 
 Once you've taken those steps, that's it.
 
@@ -226,6 +226,19 @@ the ``django.contirb.auth.models.User`` interface, with these differences:
 In practice, you probably won't need to use ``AnonymousUser`` objects on your
 own, but they're used by Web requests, as explained in the next section.
 
+Creating superusers
+-------------------
+
+``manage.py syncdb`` prompts you to create a superuser the first time you run
+it after adding ``'django.contrib.auth'`` to your ``INSTALLED_APPS``. But if
+you need to create a superuser after that via the command line, you can use the
+``create_superuser.py`` utility. Just run this command::
+
+    python /path/to/django/contrib/auth/create_superuser.py
+
+Make sure to substitute ``/path/to/`` with the path to the Django codebase on
+your filesystem.
+
 Authentication in Web requests
 ==============================