diff --git a/django/core/management/commands/shell.py b/django/core/management/commands/shell.py
index f883fb95d8..851d4e3cfb 100644
--- a/django/core/management/commands/shell.py
+++ b/django/core/management/commands/shell.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ class Command(NoArgsCommand):
     option_list = NoArgsCommand.option_list + (
         make_option('--plain', action='store_true', dest='plain',
             help='Tells Django to use plain Python, not IPython or bpython.'),
+        make_option('--no-startup', action='store_true', dest='no_startup',
+            help='When using plain Python, ignore the PYTHONSTARTUP environment variable and ~/.pythonrc.py script.'),
         make_option('-i', '--interface', action='store', type='choice', choices=shells,
                     dest='interface',
             help='Specify an interactive interpreter interface. Available options: "ipython" and "bpython"'),
@@ -56,6 +58,7 @@ class Command(NoArgsCommand):
         get_models()
 
         use_plain = options.get('plain', False)
+        no_startup = options.get('no_startup', False)
         interface = options.get('interface', None)
 
         try:
@@ -83,13 +86,16 @@ class Command(NoArgsCommand):
 
             # We want to honor both $PYTHONSTARTUP and .pythonrc.py, so follow system
             # conventions and get $PYTHONSTARTUP first then .pythonrc.py.
-            if not use_plain:
-                for pythonrc in (os.environ.get("PYTHONSTARTUP"),
-                                 os.path.expanduser('~/.pythonrc.py')):
-                    if pythonrc and os.path.isfile(pythonrc):
-                        try:
-                            with open(pythonrc) as handle:
-                                exec(compile(handle.read(), pythonrc, 'exec'))
-                        except NameError:
-                            pass
+            if not no_startup:
+                for pythonrc in (os.environ.get("PYTHONSTARTUP"), '~/.pythonrc.py'):
+                    if not pythonrc:
+                        continue
+                    pythonrc = os.path.expanduser(pythonrc)
+                    if not os.path.isfile(pythonrc):
+                        continue
+                    try:
+                        with open(pythonrc) as handle:
+                            exec(compile(handle.read(), pythonrc, 'exec'), imported_objects)
+                    except NameError:
+                        pass
             code.interact(local=imported_objects)
diff --git a/docs/ref/django-admin.txt b/docs/ref/django-admin.txt
index 06ec8e2031..8f6664edb7 100644
--- a/docs/ref/django-admin.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/django-admin.txt
@@ -779,6 +779,18 @@ bpython::
 .. _IPython: http://ipython.scipy.org/
 .. _bpython: http://bpython-interpreter.org/
 
+When the "plain" Python interactive interpreter starts (be it because
+``--plain`` was specified or because no other interactive interface is
+available) it reads the script pointed to by the :envvar:`PYTHONSTARTUP`
+environment variable and the ``~/.pythonrc.py`` script. If you don't wish this
+behavior you can use the ``--no-startup`` option. e.g.::
+
+    django-admin.py shell --plain --no-startup
+
+.. versionadded:: 1.6
+
+The ``--no-startup`` option was added in Django 1.6.
+
 sql <appname appname ...>
 -------------------------