diff --git a/django/test/runner.py b/django/test/runner.py
index 84fe249..5ff3f15 100644
--- a/django/test/runner.py
+++ b/django/test/runner.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ class DiscoverRunner(object):
     A Django test runner that uses unittest2 test discovery.
     """
 
+    test_suite = TestSuite
+    test_runner = unittest.TextTestRunner
     test_loader = defaultTestLoader
     reorder_by = (TestCase, )
     option_list = (
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ class DiscoverRunner(object):
         unittest.installHandler()
 
     def build_suite(self, test_labels=None, extra_tests=None, **kwargs):
-        suite = TestSuite()
+        suite = self.test_suite()
         test_labels = test_labels or ['.']
         extra_tests = extra_tests or []
 
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@ class DiscoverRunner(object):
         return setup_databases(self.verbosity, self.interactive, **kwargs)
 
     def run_suite(self, suite, **kwargs):
-        return unittest.TextTestRunner(
+        return self.test_runner(
             verbosity=self.verbosity,
             failfast=self.failfast,
         ).run(suite)
@@ -201,7 +203,8 @@ def reorder_suite(suite, classes):
     classes[1], etc. Tests with no match in classes are placed last.
     """
     class_count = len(classes)
-    bins = [unittest.TestSuite() for i in range(class_count+1)]
+    suite_class = type(suite)
+    bins = [suite_class() for i in range(class_count+1)]
     partition_suite(suite, classes, bins)
     for i in range(class_count):
         bins[0].addTests(bins[i+1])
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.7.txt b/docs/releases/1.7.txt
index 32b5e91..326986c 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.7.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/1.7.txt
@@ -276,6 +276,16 @@ Templates
   :setting:`TEMPLATE_DEBUG` is ``True``. This allows template origins to be
   inspected and logged outside of the ``django.template`` infrastructure.
 
+Tests
+^^^^^
+
+* :class:`~django.test.runner.DiscoverRunner` has two new attributes, 
+  :attr:`test_suite` and :attr:`test_runner`, which facilitate
+  overriding the way tests are collected and run.  Documentation has been 
+  added for the similar :attr:`test_loader` attribute
+  which has been in place since 1.6.
+
+
 Backwards incompatible changes in 1.7
 =====================================
 
diff --git a/docs/topics/testing/advanced.txt b/docs/topics/testing/advanced.txt
index d8d59c6..2195f9a 100644
--- a/docs/topics/testing/advanced.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/testing/advanced.txt
@@ -299,13 +299,15 @@ Defining a test runner
 .. currentmodule:: django.test.runner
 
 A test runner is a class defining a ``run_tests()`` method. Django ships
-with a ``DiscoverRunner`` class that defines the default Django
-testing behavior. This class defines the ``run_tests()`` entry point,
-plus a selection of other methods that are used to by ``run_tests()`` to
-set up, execute and tear down the test suite.
+with a ``DiscoverRunner`` class that defines the default Django testing 
+behavior. This class defines the ``run_tests()`` entry point, plus a 
+selection of other methods that are used to by ``run_tests()`` to set up, 
+execute and tear down the test suite.
 
 .. class:: DiscoverRunner(pattern='test*.py', top_level=None, verbosity=1, interactive=True, failfast=True, **kwargs)
 
+.. versionadded:: 1.6
+
     ``DiscoverRunner`` will search for tests in any file matching ``pattern``.
 
     ``top_level`` can be used to specify the directory containing your
@@ -339,6 +341,34 @@ set up, execute and tear down the test suite.
 Attributes
 ~~~~~~~~~~
 
+.. attribute:: DiscoverRunner.test_suite
+
+.. versionadded:: 1.7
+
+    The class used to build the test suite.  By default it is set to 
+    ``unittest.TestSuite``.  This can be overridden if you wish to implement
+    different logic for collecting tests into a test suite.
+
+.. attribute:: DiscoverRunner.test_runner
+
+.. versionadded:: 1.7
+
+    This is the class of the low-level test runner which is used to execute 
+    the individual tests and format the results.  By default it is set to 
+    ``unittest.TextTestRunner``.  Despite the unfortunate similarity in 
+    naming conventions, this is not the same type of class as 
+    ``DiscoverRunner``, which covers a broader set of responsibilites.  You 
+    can override this attribute to modify the way tests are run and reported.
+
+.. attribute:: DiscoverRunner.test_loader
+
+.. versionadded:: 1.6
+
+    This is the class that loads tests, whether from TestCases or modules or
+    otherwise and bundles them into test suites for the runner to execute.  
+    By default it is set to ``unittest.defaultTestLoader``.  You can override 
+    this attribute if your tests are going to be loaded in unusual ways.
+
 .. attribute:: DiscoverRunner.option_list
 
     This is the tuple of ``optparse`` options which will be fed into the