Index: django/core/mail/backends/smtp.py
===================================================================
--- django/core/mail/backends/smtp.py	(revision 17282)
+++ django/core/mail/backends/smtp.py	(working copy)
@@ -44,12 +44,13 @@
         try:
             # If local_hostname is not specified, socket.getfqdn() gets used.
             # For performance, we use the cached FQDN for local_hostname.
-            self.connection = smtplib.SMTP(self.host, self.port,
+            if self.use_tls:
+                self.connection = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(self.host, self.port,
                                            local_hostname=DNS_NAME.get_fqdn())
-            if self.use_tls:
-                self.connection.ehlo()
-                self.connection.starttls()
-                self.connection.ehlo()
+            else:
+                self.connection = smtplib.SMTP(self.host, self.port,
+                                           local_hostname=DNS_NAME.get_fqdn())
+
             if self.username and self.password:
                 self.connection.login(self.username, self.password)
             return True
