diff --git a/common/djangoapps/util/model_utils.py b/common/djangoapps/util/model_utils.py
index 5aec1bada0..bc22fb0017 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/util/model_utils.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/util/model_utils.py
@@ -1,13 +1,8 @@
 """
 Utilities for django models.
 """
-import re
-import unicodedata
-
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.dispatch import Signal
-from django.utils.encoding import force_unicode
-from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
 from django_countries.fields import Country
 
 from eventtracking import tracker
@@ -171,20 +166,3 @@ def _get_truncated_setting_value(value, max_length=None):
         return value[0:max_length], True
     else:
         return value, False
-
-
-# Taken from Django 1.8 source code because it's not supported in 1.4
-def slugify(value):
-    """Converts value into a string suitable for readable URLs.
-
-    Converts to ASCII. Converts spaces to hyphens. Removes characters that
-    aren't alphanumerics, underscores, or hyphens. Converts to lowercase.
-    Also strips leading and trailing whitespace.
-
-    Args:
-        value (string): String to slugify.
-    """
-    value = force_unicode(value)
-    value = unicodedata.normalize('NFKD', value).encode('ascii', 'ignore').decode('ascii')
-    value = re.sub(r'[^\w\s-]', '', value).strip().lower()
-    return mark_safe(re.sub(r'[-\s]+', '-', value))
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/badges/events/course_complete.py b/lms/djangoapps/badges/events/course_complete.py
index 24002771ae..7cb9e4986c 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/badges/events/course_complete.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/badges/events/course_complete.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import hashlib
 import logging
 
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
-from django.template.defaultfilters import slugify
+from django.utils.text import slugify
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
 
 from badges.models import BadgeAssertion, BadgeClass, CourseCompleteImageConfiguration
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
index 231e960ab3..c4f7a01dfb 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ from student.roles import CourseBetaTesterRole
 from track import contexts
 from util import milestones_helpers
 from util.json_request import JsonResponse
-from util.model_utils import slugify
+from django.utils.text import slugify
 from util.sandboxing import can_execute_unsafe_code, get_python_lib_zip
 from xblock_django.user_service import DjangoXBlockUserService
 from xmodule.contentstore.django import contentstore
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/teams/models.py b/lms/djangoapps/teams/models.py
index 154f424acd..dd5461263d 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/teams/models.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/teams/models.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from lms.djangoapps.teams import TEAM_DISCUSSION_CONTEXT
 from lms.djangoapps.teams.utils import emit_team_event
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.xmodule_django.models import CourseKeyField
 from student.models import CourseEnrollment, LanguageField
-from util.model_utils import slugify
+from django.utils.text import slugify
 
 from .errors import AlreadyOnTeamInCourse, ImmutableMembershipFieldException, NotEnrolledInCourseForTeam