diff -r a46862fc4d18 Lib/logging/__init__.py
--- a/Lib/logging/__init__.py	Thu Feb 06 12:03:53 2014 -0500
+++ b/Lib/logging/__init__.py	Thu Feb 06 18:50:32 2014 -0500
@@ -1279,12 +1279,11 @@
         if self.isEnabledFor(ERROR):
             self._log(ERROR, msg, args, **kwargs)
 
-    def exception(self, msg, *args, **kwargs):
+    def exception(self, msg, *args, exc_info=True, **kwargs):
         """
         Convenience method for logging an ERROR with exception information.
         """
-        kwargs['exc_info'] = True
-        self.error(msg, *args, **kwargs)
+        self.error(msg, *args, exc_info=exc_info, **kwargs)
 
     def critical(self, msg, *args, **kwargs):
         """
@@ -1379,7 +1378,9 @@
         else: # pragma: no cover
             fn, lno, func = "(unknown file)", 0, "(unknown function)"
         if exc_info:
-            if not isinstance(exc_info, tuple):
+            if isinstance(exc_info, BaseException):
+                exc_info = (type(exc_info), exc_info, exc_info.__traceback__)
+            elif not isinstance(exc_info, tuple):
                 exc_info = sys.exc_info()
         record = self.makeRecord(self.name, level, fn, lno, msg, args,
                                  exc_info, func, extra, sinfo)
@@ -1589,12 +1590,11 @@
         """
         self.log(ERROR, msg, *args, **kwargs)
 
-    def exception(self, msg, *args, **kwargs):
+    def exception(self, msg, *args, exc_info=True, **kwargs):
         """
         Delegate an exception call to the underlying logger.
         """
-        kwargs["exc_info"] = True
-        self.log(ERROR, msg, *args, **kwargs)
+        self.log(ERROR, msg, *args, exc_info=exc_info, **kwargs)
 
     def critical(self, msg, *args, **kwargs):
         """
@@ -1773,14 +1773,13 @@
         basicConfig()
     root.error(msg, *args, **kwargs)
 
-def exception(msg, *args, **kwargs):
+def exception(msg, *args, exc_info=True, **kwargs):
     """
     Log a message with severity 'ERROR' on the root logger, with exception
     information. If the logger has no handlers, basicConfig() is called to add
     a console handler with a pre-defined format.
     """
-    kwargs['exc_info'] = True
-    error(msg, *args, **kwargs)
+    error(msg, *args, exc_info=exc_info, **kwargs)
 
 def warning(msg, *args, **kwargs):
     """
diff -r a46862fc4d18 Lib/test/test_logging.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_logging.py	Thu Feb 06 12:03:53 2014 -0500
+++ b/Lib/test/test_logging.py	Thu Feb 06 18:50:32 2014 -0500
@@ -3707,6 +3707,19 @@
         self.assertEqual(record.exc_info,
                          (exc.__class__, exc, exc.__traceback__))
 
+    def test_exception_excinfo(self):
+        try:
+            1 / 0
+        except ZeroDivisionError as e:
+            exc = e
+
+        self.adapter.exception('exc_info test', exc_info=exc)
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(self.recording.records), 1)
+        record = self.recording.records[0]
+        self.assertEqual(record.exc_info,
+                         (exc.__class__, exc, exc.__traceback__))
+
     def test_critical(self):
         msg = 'critical test! %r'
         self.adapter.critical(msg, self.recording)