diff --git a/Lib/pydoc.py b/Lib/pydoc.py
index 1103b013cc65..9920fcb2de93 100755
--- a/Lib/pydoc.py
+++ b/Lib/pydoc.py
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ class or function within a module or module in a package.  If the
 import sys, imp, os, re, types, inspect, __builtin__, pkgutil
 from repr import Repr
 from string import expandtabs, find, join, lower, split, strip, rfind, rstrip
+from traceback import extract_tb
 try:
     from collections import deque
 except ImportError:
@@ -299,9 +300,9 @@ def safeimport(path, forceload=0, cache={}):
         elif exc is SyntaxError:
             # A SyntaxError occurred before we could execute the module.
             raise ErrorDuringImport(value.filename, info)
-        elif exc is ImportError and \
-             split(lower(str(value)))[:2] == ['no', 'module']:
-            # The module was not found.
+        elif exc is ImportError and extract_tb(tb)[-1][2]=='safeimport':
+            # The import error occurred directly in this function,
+            # which means there is no such module in the path.
             return None
         else:
             # Some other error occurred during the importing process.
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_pydoc.py b/Lib/test/test_pydoc.py
index 7990d3a492d9..ea66d262eac3 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_pydoc.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_pydoc.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import sys
 import os
+import os.path
 import difflib
 import subprocess
 import re
@@ -7,6 +8,8 @@
 import inspect
 import unittest
 import test.test_support
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+from test.test_support import TESTFN, forget, rmtree, EnvironmentVarGuard
 
 from test import pydoc_mod
 
@@ -166,6 +169,9 @@ class B(__builtin__.object)
 # output pattern for missing module
 missing_pattern = "no Python documentation found for '%s'"
 
+# output pattern for module with bad imports
+badimport_pattern = "problem in %s - <type 'exceptions.ImportError'>: No module named %s"
+
 def run_pydoc(module_name, *args):
     """
     Runs pydoc on the specified module. Returns the stripped
@@ -237,6 +243,43 @@ def test_not_here(self):
         self.assertEqual(expected, result,
             "documentation for missing module found")
 
+    def test_badimport(self):
+        # This tests the fix for issue 5230, where if pydoc found the module
+        # but the module had an internal import error pydoc would report no doc
+        # found.
+        modname = 'testmod_xyzzy'
+        testpairs = (
+            ('i_am_not_here', 'i_am_not_here'),
+            ('test.i_am_not_here_either', 'i_am_not_here_either'),
+            ('test.i_am_not_here.neither_am_i', 'i_am_not_here.neither_am_i'),
+            ('i_am_not_here.{0}'.format(modname), 'i_am_not_here.{0}'.format(modname)),
+            ('test.{0}'.format(modname), modname),
+            )
+
+        @contextmanager
+        def newdirinpath(dir):
+            os.mkdir(dir)
+            sys.path.insert(0, dir)
+            yield
+            sys.path.pop(0)
+            rmtree(dir)
+
+        with newdirinpath(TESTFN):
+            with EnvironmentVarGuard() as env:
+                env.set('PYTHONPATH', TESTFN)
+                fullmodname = os.path.join(TESTFN, modname)
+                sourcefn = fullmodname + os.extsep + "py"
+                for importstring, expectedinmsg in testpairs:
+                    f = open(sourcefn, 'w')
+                    f.write("import {0}\n".format(importstring))
+                    f.close()
+                    try:
+                        result = run_pydoc(modname)
+                    finally:
+                        forget(modname)
+                    expected = badimport_pattern % (modname, expectedinmsg)
+                    self.assertEqual(expected, result)
+
     def test_input_strip(self):
         missing_module = " test.i_am_not_here "
         result = run_pydoc(missing_module)
diff --git a/Misc/ACKS b/Misc/ACKS
index e0890e869540..b35cc4795ff8 100644
--- a/Misc/ACKS
+++ b/Misc/ACKS
@@ -464,6 +464,7 @@ Andrew McNamara
 Craig McPheeters
 Lambert Meertens
 Bill van Melle
+Lucas Prado Melo
 Luke Mewburn
 Mike Meyer
 Steven Miale
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 378435b79c09..06cd333a3bda 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #5230: pydoc would report no documentation found if a module generated
+  a 'not found' import error when loaded; it now reports the import errors.
+  Thanks to Lucas Prado Melo for initial fix and collaboration on the tests.
+
 - Issue #6274: Fixed possible file descriptors leak in subprocess.py
 
 - Issue #6271: mmap tried to close invalid file handle (-1) when annonymous.