diff --git a/rest_framework_jwt/compat.py b/rest_framework_jwt/compat.py
index 93e7898d..b69375c8 100644
--- a/rest_framework_jwt/compat.py
+++ b/rest_framework_jwt/compat.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+import django
+from django.contrib.auth import authenticate as dj_authenticate, get_user_model
 
 from rest_framework import serializers
 
@@ -35,3 +36,10 @@ def get_username(user):
         username = user.username
 
     return username
+
+
+def authenticate(request=None, **credentials):
+    if django.VERSION < (1, 11):
+        return dj_authenticate(**credentials)
+    else:
+        return dj_authenticate(request=request, **credentials)
diff --git a/rest_framework_jwt/serializers.py b/rest_framework_jwt/serializers.py
index 12b10a44..f6c0703d 100644
--- a/rest_framework_jwt/serializers.py
+++ b/rest_framework_jwt/serializers.py
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 from calendar import timegm
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
-from django.contrib.auth import authenticate, get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 from rest_framework import serializers
-from .compat import Serializer
+from .compat import Serializer, authenticate
 
 from rest_framework_jwt.settings import api_settings
 from rest_framework_jwt.compat import get_username_field, PasswordField
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ def validate(self, attrs):
         }
 
         if all(credentials.values()):
-            user = authenticate(**credentials)
+            request = self.context.get('request')
+            user = authenticate(request=request, **credentials)
 
             if user:
                 if not user.is_active: