diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 36eb5a75d..87290b66d 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+3.1.2
+-----
+
+Bug fixes
+^^^^^^^^^
+
+* Auto clearing of ``mail.outbox`` has been re-introduced to not break
+  functionality in 3.x.x release. This means that Compatibility issues
+  mentioned in the 3.1.0 release are no longer present. Related issue:
+  _`pytest-django issue <https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest-django/issues/433>`
+
 3.1.1
 -----
 
diff --git a/docs/helpers.rst b/docs/helpers.rst
index 289ff3f06..5d7c2afeb 100644
--- a/docs/helpers.rst
+++ b/docs/helpers.rst
@@ -254,3 +254,11 @@ Clearing of site cache
 If ``django.contrib.sites`` is in your INSTALLED_APPS, Site cache will
 be cleared for each test to avoid hitting the cache and cause wrong Site
 object to be returned by ``Site.objects.get_current()``.
+
+
+Clearing of mail.outbox
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+``mail.outbox`` will be cleared for each pytest, to give tests a empty
+mailbox. It is however more pytestic to use the ``mailoutbox`` fixture
+to access ``mail.outbox``.
diff --git a/pytest_django/plugin.py b/pytest_django/plugin.py
index 1fb9120e5..067e33c52 100644
--- a/pytest_django/plugin.py
+++ b/pytest_django/plugin.py
@@ -415,44 +415,22 @@ def teardown():
         request.addfinalizer(teardown)
 
 
-class _DirectMailboxAccessProtector(list):
-
-    def _raise_assertion(*args, **kwargs):
-        __tracebackhide__ = True
-        raise AssertionError('''To access mail.outbox, use the mailoutbox fixture.
-See http://pytest-django.readthedocs.io/en/latest/helpers.html#mailoutbox for more information.''')
-
-    __len__ = _raise_assertion
-    __getitem__ = _raise_assertion
-    __nonzero__ = _raise_assertion
-    __bool__ = _raise_assertion
-    __eq__ = _raise_assertion
-    __ne__ = _raise_assertion
-    __iter__ = _raise_assertion
-
-
-@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def _error_on_direct_mail_outbox_access(monkeypatch):
+@pytest.fixture(scope='function', autouse=True)
+def _dj_autoclear_mailbox():
     if not django_settings_is_configured():
         return
 
     from django.core import mail
-
-    outbox = _DirectMailboxAccessProtector()
-    monkeypatch.setattr(mail, 'outbox', outbox)
-    return outbox
+    del mail.outbox[:]
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope='function')
-def mailoutbox(monkeypatch, _error_on_direct_mail_outbox_access):
+def mailoutbox(monkeypatch, _dj_autoclear_mailbox):
     if not django_settings_is_configured():
         return
 
     from django.core import mail
-
-    outbox = list()
-    monkeypatch.setattr(mail, 'outbox', outbox)
-    return outbox
+    return mail.outbox
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True, scope='function')
diff --git a/tests/test_environment.py b/tests/test_environment.py
index 6caa07d5e..fe56f669e 100644
--- a/tests/test_environment.py
+++ b/tests/test_environment.py
@@ -18,42 +18,17 @@
 # This is possible with some of the testdir magic, but this is the lazy way
 # to do it.
 
-
-class Test_direct_mailbox_access_not_allowed():
-
-    def test_len(self):
-        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-            len(mail.outbox)
-
-    def test_indexing(self):
-        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-            mail.outbox[0]
-
-    def test_bool(self):
-        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-            if mail.outbox:
-                pass
-
-    def test_equality(self):
-        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-            mail.outbox == 'whatever'
-
-    def test_not_equality(self):
-        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-            mail.outbox != 'whatever'
-
-    def test_unpacking(self):
-        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-            (foo,) = mail.outbox
-
-    def test_iteration(self):
-        with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-            for x in mail.outbox:
-                pass
-
-
-def test_direct_mailbox_proection_should_not_break_sending_mail():
-    mail.send_mail('subject', 'body', 'from@example.com', ['to@example.com'])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('subject', ['subject1', 'subject2'])
+def test_autoclear_mailbox(subject):
+    assert len(mail.outbox) == 0
+    mail.send_mail(subject, 'body', 'from@example.com', ['to@example.com'])
+    assert len(mail.outbox) == 1
+
+    m = mail.outbox[0]
+    assert m.subject == subject
+    assert m.body == 'body'
+    assert m.from_email == 'from@example.com'
+    assert m.to == ['to@example.com']
 
 
 class TestDirectAccessWorksForDjangoTestCase(TestCase):