diff --git a/smartmin/views.py b/smartmin/views.py
index f48753d..96082ac 100644
--- a/smartmin/views.py
+++ b/smartmin/views.py
@@ -1146,7 +1146,7 @@ def get_queryset(self):
 
     def derive_success_message(self):
         # First check whether a default message has been set
-        if self.success_message is None:
+        if self.success_message is None and getattr(settings, "SMARTMIN_DEFAULT_MESSAGES", True):
             return "Your %s has been updated." % self.model._meta.verbose_name
         else:
             return self.success_message
@@ -1273,7 +1273,7 @@ def pre_save(self, obj):
 
     def derive_success_message(self):
         # First check whether a default message has been set
-        if self.success_message is None:
+        if self.success_message is None and getattr(settings, "SMARTMIN_DEFAULT_MESSAGES", True):
             return _("Your new %s has been created.") % self.model._meta.verbose_name
         else:
             return self.success_message
diff --git a/test_runner/blog/tests.py b/test_runner/blog/tests.py
index 05993f8..195faa3 100644
--- a/test_runner/blog/tests.py
+++ b/test_runner/blog/tests.py
@@ -184,13 +184,28 @@ def test_messaging(self):
         post = list(Post.objects.all())[-1]
 
         self.assertEqual(200, response.status_code)
-        self.assertContains(response, "Your new post has been created.")
+        self.assertContains(response, "Your new post has been created.")  # created from model name
 
-        post_data = dict(title="New Post", body="Updated post content", order=1, tags="post")
-        response = self.client.post(reverse("blog.post_update", args=[post.id]), post_data, follow=True)
+        response = self.client.post(
+            reverse("blog.post_update", args=[post.id]),
+            {"title": "New Post", "body": "Updated post content", "order": 1, "tags": "post"},
+            follow=True
+        )
 
         self.assertEqual(200, response.status_code)
-        self.assertContains(response, "Your blog post has been updated.")
+        self.assertContains(response, "Your blog post has been updated.")  # set explicitly on view
+
+        # can disable auto-creating success messages from model names
+        with self.settings(SMARTMIN_DEFAULT_MESSAGES=False):
+            response = self.client.post(
+                reverse("blog.post_create"),
+                {"title": "Post 2", "body": "Hi Again", "order": 1, "tags": "post"},
+                follow=True
+            )
+
+        self.assertEquals(200, response.status_code)
+        self.assertNotContains(response, "Your new post has been created.")  # disabled
+
 
     def test_message_tags(self):
         self.client.login(username="author", password="author")