diff --git a/Doc/library/unittest.rst b/Doc/library/unittest.rst
--- a/Doc/library/unittest.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/unittest.rst
@@ -1581,12 +1581,11 @@
       import failure is due to :exc:`SkipTest` being raised, it will be recorded
       as a skip instead of an error.
 
-      If a test package name (directory with :file:`__init__.py`) matches the
-      pattern then the package will be checked for a ``load_tests``
-      function. If this exists then it will be called with *loader*, *tests*,
-      *pattern*.
-
-      If load_tests exists then discovery does *not* recurse into the package,
+      If a package (a directory containing a file named :file:`__init__.py`) is
+      found, the package will be checked for a ``load_tests`` function. If this
+      exists then it will be called with *loader*, *tests*, *pattern*.
+
+      If ``load_tests`` exists then discovery does *not* recurse into the package,
       ``load_tests`` is responsible for loading all tests in the package.
 
       The pattern is deliberately not stored as a loader attribute so that
@@ -1599,13 +1598,18 @@
       .. versionadded:: 3.2
 
       .. versionchanged:: 3.4
-         Modules that raise :exc:`SkipTest` on import are recorded as skips,
-         not errors.
-
-      .. versionchanged:: 3.4
-         Paths are sorted before being imported to ensure execution order for a
-         given test suite is the same even if the underlying file system's ordering
-         is not dependent on file name like in ext3/4.
+         Several changes have been made:
+
+            - Modules that raise :exc:`SkipTest` on import are recorded as
+              skips, not errors.
+
+            - Paths are sorted before being imported to ensure execution order
+              for a given test suite is the same even if the underlying file
+              system's ordering is not dependent on file name like in ext3/4.
+
+            - Found packages are now checked for ``load_tests`` regardless of
+              whether their path matches *pattern*, because it is impossible for
+              a package name to match the default pattern.
 
 
    The following attributes of a :class:`TestLoader` can be configured either by
@@ -1980,21 +1984,12 @@
             suite.addTests(tests)
         return suite
 
-If discovery is started, either from the command line or by calling
-:meth:`TestLoader.discover`, with a pattern that matches a package
-name then the package :file:`__init__.py` will be checked for ``load_tests``.
-
-.. note::
-
-   The default pattern is ``'test*.py'``. This matches all Python files
-   that start with ``'test'`` but *won't* match any test directories.
-
-   A pattern like ``'test*'`` will match test packages as well as
-   modules.
-
-If the package :file:`__init__.py` defines ``load_tests`` then it will be
-called and discovery not continued into the package. ``load_tests``
-is called with the following arguments::
+If discovery is started in a directory containing a package, either from the
+command line or by calling :meth:`TestLoader.discover`, then the package
+:file:`__init__.py` will be checked for ``load_tests``.  If that function does
+not exist, discovery will recurse into the package as though it were just
+another directory.  Otherwise, discovery of the package's tests will be left up
+to ``load_tests`` which is called with the following arguments::
 
     load_tests(loader, standard_tests, pattern)
 
@@ -2013,6 +2008,10 @@
         standard_tests.addTests(package_tests)
         return standard_tests
 
+.. versionchanged:: 3.4
+   Discovery no longer checks package names for matching *pattern* due to the
+   impossibility of package names matching the default pattern.
+
 
 Class and Module Fixtures
 -------------------------
diff --git a/Lib/unittest/loader.py b/Lib/unittest/loader.py
--- a/Lib/unittest/loader.py
+++ b/Lib/unittest/loader.py
@@ -292,12 +292,10 @@
 
                 load_tests = None
                 tests = None
-                if fnmatch(path, pattern):
-                    # only check load_tests if the package directory itself matches the filter
-                    name = self._get_name_from_path(full_path)
-                    package = self._get_module_from_name(name)
-                    load_tests = getattr(package, 'load_tests', None)
-                    tests = self.loadTestsFromModule(package, use_load_tests=False)
+                name = self._get_name_from_path(full_path)
+                package = self._get_module_from_name(name)
+                load_tests = getattr(package, 'load_tests', None)
+                tests = self.loadTestsFromModule(package, use_load_tests=False)
 
                 if load_tests is None:
                     if tests is not None: