diff -r 61e6ac40c816 Lib/doctest.py
--- a/Lib/doctest.py	Thu Jul 05 20:57:33 2012 +0200
+++ b/Lib/doctest.py	Fri Jul 06 05:26:15 2012 -0700
@@ -2334,7 +2334,7 @@
     elif not tests:
         # Why do we want to do this? Because it reveals a bug that might
         # otherwise be hidden.
-        raise ValueError(module, "has no tests")
+        raise ValueError(module, "has no docstrings")
 
     tests.sort()
     suite = unittest.TestSuite()
diff -r 61e6ac40c816 Lib/test/sample_doctest2.py
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/Lib/test/sample_doctest2.py	Fri Jul 06 05:26:15 2012 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+"""This is a sample module used for testing doctest.
+
+This module is for testing how doctest handles a module with docstrings
+but no doctest examples.
+
+"""
+
+
+class Foo(object):
+    """A docstring with no doctest examples.
+
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        pass
diff -r 61e6ac40c816 Lib/test/sample_doctest3.py
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/Lib/test/sample_doctest3.py	Fri Jul 06 05:26:15 2012 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# This is a sample module used for testing doctest.
+#
+# This module is for testing how doctest handles a module with no
+# docstrings.
+
+
+class Foo(object):
+
+    # A class with no docstring.
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        pass
diff -r 61e6ac40c816 Lib/test/test_doctest.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_doctest.py	Thu Jul 05 20:57:33 2012 +0200
+++ b/Lib/test/test_doctest.py	Fri Jul 06 05:26:15 2012 -0700
@@ -1986,6 +1986,22 @@
          >>> suite.run(unittest.TestResult())
          <unittest.result.TestResult run=9 errors=0 failures=4>
 
+       The module need not contain any doctest examples:
+
+         >>> suite = doctest.DocTestSuite('test.sample_doctest2')
+         >>> suite.run(unittest.TestResult())
+         <unittest.result.TestResult run=0 errors=0 failures=0>
+
+       However, if DocTestSuite finds no docstrings, it raises an error:
+
+         >>> try:
+         ...     doctest.DocTestSuite('test.sample_doctest3')
+         ... except ValueError as e:
+         ...     error = e
+
+         >>> print(error.args[1])
+         has no docstrings
+
        We can use the current module:
 
          >>> suite = test.sample_doctest.test_suite()
diff -r 61e6ac40c816 Misc/ACKS
--- a/Misc/ACKS	Thu Jul 05 20:57:33 2012 +0200
+++ b/Misc/ACKS	Fri Jul 06 05:26:15 2012 -0700
@@ -505,6 +505,7 @@
 Drew Jenkins
 Flemming Kjær Jensen
 MunSic Jeong
+Chris Jerdonek
 Jim Jewett
 Orjan Johansen
 Fredrik Johansson
diff -r 61e6ac40c816 Misc/NEWS
--- a/Misc/NEWS	Thu Jul 05 20:57:33 2012 +0200
+++ b/Misc/NEWS	Fri Jul 06 05:26:15 2012 -0700
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #14649: Fixed the exception message when doctest.DocTestSuite is
+  passed a module containing no docstrings.
+
 - Issue #15166: Implement imp.get_tag() using sys.implementation.cache_tag.
 
 - Issue #15210: Catch KeyError when imprortlib.__init__ can't find
@@ -131,7 +134,7 @@
 
 - Issue #15176: Clarified behavior, documentation, and implementation
   of os.listdir().
-  
+
 - Issue #15061: Re-implemented hmac.compare_digest() in C to prevent further
   timing analysis and to support all buffer protocol aware objects as well as
   ASCII only str instances safely.