diff --git a/Doc/library/collections.rst b/Doc/library/collections.rst
index 771310d00f4..75aa55e5f0e 100644
--- a/Doc/library/collections.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/collections.rst
@@ -388,8 +388,6 @@ Example::
 
            __slots__ = ()
 
-           _fields = ('x', 'y')
-
            def __new__(cls, x, y):
                return tuple.__new__(cls, (x, y))
 
@@ -404,11 +402,15 @@ Example::
                'Return a new Point object replacing specified fields with new values'
                return Point(*map(kwds.get, ('x', 'y'), self))
 
+           @property
+           def _fields(self):
+               return ('x', 'y')
+
            x = property(itemgetter(0))
            y = property(itemgetter(1))
 
    >>> p = Point(11, y=22)     # instantiate with positional or keyword arguments
-   >>> p[0] + p[1]             # indexable like the regular tuple (11, 22)
+   >>> p[0] + p[1]             # indexable like the plain tuple (11, 22)
    33
    >>> x, y = p                # unpack like a regular tuple
    >>> x, y
diff --git a/Lib/collections.py b/Lib/collections.py
index be4d4fdc6f8..a43fdfa97a9 100644
--- a/Lib/collections.py
+++ b/Lib/collections.py
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 __all__ = ['deque', 'defaultdict', 'namedtuple']
+# For bootstrapping reasons, the collection ABCs are defined in _abcoll.py.
+# They should however be considered an integral part of collections.py.
+from _abcoll import *
+import _abcoll
+__all__ += _abcoll.__all__
 
 from _collections import deque, defaultdict
 from operator import itemgetter as _itemgetter
@@ -6,12 +11,6 @@ from itertools import izip as _izip
 from keyword import iskeyword as _iskeyword
 import sys as _sys
 
-# For bootstrapping reasons, the collection ABCs are defined in _abcoll.py.
-# They should however be considered an integral part of collections.py.
-from _abcoll import *
-import _abcoll
-__all__ += _abcoll.__all__
-
 def namedtuple(typename, field_names, verbose=False):
     """Returns a new subclass of tuple with named fields.
 
@@ -19,9 +18,9 @@ def namedtuple(typename, field_names, verbose=False):
     >>> Point.__doc__                   # docstring for the new class
     'Point(x, y)'
     >>> p = Point(11, y=22)             # instantiate with positional args or keywords
-    >>> p[0] + p[1]                     # works just like the tuple (11, 22)
+    >>> p[0] + p[1]                     # indexable like a plain tuple:  (11, 22)
     33
-    >>> x, y = p                        # unpacks just like a tuple
+    >>> x, y = p                        # unpack like a regular tuple
     >>> x, y
     (11, 22)
     >>> p.x + p.y                       # fields also accessable by name
@@ -61,7 +60,6 @@ def namedtuple(typename, field_names, verbose=False):
     template = '''class %(typename)s(tuple):
         '%(typename)s(%(argtxt)s)' \n
         __slots__ = () \n
-        _fields = property(lambda self: %(field_names)r) \n
         def __new__(cls, %(argtxt)s):
             return tuple.__new__(cls, (%(argtxt)s)) \n
         def __repr__(self):
@@ -71,7 +69,10 @@ def namedtuple(typename, field_names, verbose=False):
             return dict(zip(%(field_names)r, self)) \n
         def _replace(self, **kwds):
             'Return a new %(typename)s object replacing specified fields with new values'
-            return %(typename)s(*map(kwds.get, %(field_names)r, self)) \n\n''' % locals()
+            return %(typename)s(*map(kwds.get, %(field_names)r, self)) \n
+        @property
+        def _fields(self):
+            return %(field_names)r \n\n''' % locals()
     for i, name in enumerate(field_names):
         template += '        %s = property(itemgetter(%d))\n' % (name, i)
     if verbose:
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_collections.py b/Lib/test/test_collections.py
index d6cfe9b2067..73ae62ade5d 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_collections.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_collections.py
@@ -90,9 +90,36 @@ class TestNamedTuple(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_odd_sizes(self):
         Zero = namedtuple('Zero', '')
         self.assertEqual(Zero(), ())
+        self.assertEqual(repr(Zero()), 'Zero()')
+        self.assertEqual(Zero()._asdict(), {})
+        self.assertEqual(Zero()._fields, ())
+
         Dot = namedtuple('Dot', 'd')
         self.assertEqual(Dot(1), (1,))
+        self.assertEqual(Dot(1).d, 1)
+        self.assertEqual(repr(Dot(1)), 'Dot(d=1)')
+        self.assertEqual(Dot(1)._asdict(), {'d':1})
+        self.assertEqual(Dot(1)._replace(d=999), (999,))
+        self.assertEqual(Dot(1)._fields, ('d',))
 
+        n = 10000
+        import string, random
+        names = [''.join([random.choice(string.letters) for j in range(10)]) for i in range(n)]
+        Big = namedtuple('Big', names)
+        b = Big(*range(n))
+        self.assertEqual(b, tuple(range(n)))
+        for pos, name in enumerate(names):
+            self.assertEqual(getattr(b, name), pos)
+        repr(b)                                 # make sure repr() doesn't blow-up
+        d = b._asdict()
+        d_expected = dict(zip(names, range(n)))
+        self.assertEqual(d, d_expected)
+        b2 = b._replace(**dict([(names[1], 999),(names[-5], 42)]))
+        b2_expected = range(n)
+        b2_expected[1] = 999
+        b2_expected[-5] = 42
+        self.assertEqual(b2, tuple(b2_expected))
+        self.assertEqual(b._fields, tuple(names))
 
 class TestOneTrickPonyABCs(unittest.TestCase):