1 files changed, 5 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/rest_framework/utils/model_meta.py b/rest_framework/utils/model_meta.py
index 82361edf..54f9310d 100644
--- a/rest_framework/utils/model_meta.py
+++ b/rest_framework/utils/model_meta.py
@@ -43,7 +43,11 @@ def _resolve_model(obj):
     """
     if isinstance(obj, six.string_types) and len(obj.split('.')) == 2:
         app_name, model_name = obj.split('.')
-        return models.get_model(app_name, model_name)
+        resolved_model = models.get_model(app_name, model_name)
+        if not resolved_model:
+            raise ValueError("Django did not return a model for "
+                             "{0}.{1}".format(app_name, model_name))
+        return resolved_model
     elif inspect.isclass(obj) and issubclass(obj, models.Model):
         return obj
     raise ValueError("{0} is not a Django model".format(obj))