diff --git a/rest_framework/fields.py b/rest_framework/fields.py
index c0253f86b8..fe0b3197e6 100644
--- a/rest_framework/fields.py
+++ b/rest_framework/fields.py
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ def from_native(self, value):
             return True
         if value in ('false', 'f', 'False', '0'):
             return False
-        return bool(value)
+        raise ValidationError(self.error_messages['invalid'] % _(value))
 
 
 class CharField(WritableField):
diff --git a/tests/test_fields.py b/tests/test_fields.py
index 0ddbe48b5b..68a20ccc4e 100644
--- a/tests/test_fields.py
+++ b/tests/test_fields.py
@@ -1002,6 +1002,7 @@ class BooleanRequiredSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
             bool_field = serializers.BooleanField(required=True)
 
         self.assertFalse(BooleanRequiredSerializer(data={}).is_valid())
+        self.assertFalse(BooleanRequiredSerializer(data={'bool_field': 'I\'m a string!'}).is_valid())
 
 
 class ModelCharField(TestCase):