diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index da2e05ed..27557b97 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ Pending
 -------
 
 * New release notes go here.
+* Remove previously undocumented ``CorsModel`` as it was causing migration
+  issues. For backwards compatibility, any users previously using ``CorsModel``
+  should create a model in their own app that inherits from the new
+  ``AbstractCorsModel``, and to keep using the same data, set the model's
+  ``db_table`` to 'corsheaders_corsmodel'. Users not using ``CorsModel``
+  will find they have an unused table that they can drop.
 
 1.3.1 (2016-11-09)
 ------------------
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 0af05af8..1914ff3a 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -236,9 +236,8 @@ undo the header replacement:
 If set, this should be the path to a model to look up allowed origins, in the
 form ``app.modelname``. Defaults to ``None``.
 
-The model should have one field, a ``CharField`` called ``cors``, that
-in each instance contains an allowed origin. ``django-cors-headers`` supplies
-such a model for you; set the setting to ``corsheaders.CorsModel`` to use it.
+The model should inherit from ``corsheaders.models.AbstractCorsModel`` and specify
+the allowed origin in the ``CharField`` called ``cors``.
 
 Signals
 -------
diff --git a/corsheaders/models.py b/corsheaders/models.py
index 1f9097b3..17dac610 100644
--- a/corsheaders/models.py
+++ b/corsheaders/models.py
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 from django.db import models
-from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
 
 
-@python_2_unicode_compatible
-class CorsModel(models.Model):
-    cors = models.CharField(max_length=255)
+class AbstractCorsModel(models.Model):
+    class Meta:
+        abstract = True
+        db_table = 'corsheaders_corsmodel'
 
-    def __str__(self):
-        return self.cors
+    cors = models.CharField(max_length=255)
diff --git a/tests/settings.py b/tests/settings.py
index edfaabbd..0d09a0b2 100644
--- a/tests/settings.py
+++ b/tests/settings.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 INSTALLED_APPS = [
     'corsheaders',
+    'testapp',
 ]
 
 DATABASES = {
diff --git a/tests/test_middleware.py b/tests/test_middleware.py
index 82eb4463..51b9a22e 100644
--- a/tests/test_middleware.py
+++ b/tests/test_middleware.py
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@
     ACCESS_CONTROL_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS, ACCESS_CONTROL_ALLOW_HEADERS, ACCESS_CONTROL_ALLOW_METHODS,
     ACCESS_CONTROL_ALLOW_ORIGIN, ACCESS_CONTROL_EXPOSE_HEADERS, ACCESS_CONTROL_MAX_AGE,
 )
-from corsheaders.models import CorsModel
+from corsheaders.signals import check_request_enabled
+from testapp.models import CorsModel
 
 from .utils import (
     append_middleware,
@@ -119,7 +120,7 @@ def test_options_will_not_add_origin_when_domain_not_found_in_origin_regex_white
         resp = self.client.options('/', HTTP_ORIGIN='http://foo.example.com')
         assert ACCESS_CONTROL_ALLOW_ORIGIN not in resp
 
-    @override_settings(CORS_MODEL='corsheaders.CorsModel')
+    @override_settings(CORS_MODEL='testapp.CorsModel')
     def test_get_when_custom_model_enabled(self):
         CorsModel.objects.create(cors='example.com')
         resp = self.client.get('/', HTTP_ORIGIN='http://example.com')
@@ -143,6 +144,12 @@ def test_options_no_header(self):
         resp = self.client.options('/')
         assert resp.status_code == 404
 
+    @override_settings(CORS_MODEL='testapp.CorsModel')
+    def test_process_response_when_custom_model_enabled(self):
+        CorsModel.objects.create(cors='foo.google.com')
+        response = self.client.get('/', HTTP_ORIGIN='http://foo.google.com')
+        assert response.get(ACCESS_CONTROL_ALLOW_ORIGIN, None) == 'http://foo.google.com'
+
     @override_settings(
         CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS=True,
         CORS_ORIGIN_ALLOW_ALL=True,
diff --git a/tests/test_model.py b/tests/test_model.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 926c8bb7..00000000
--- a/tests/test_model.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-from django.test import SimpleTestCase
-from django.utils import six
-
-from corsheaders.models import CorsModel
-
-
-class CorsModelTests(SimpleTestCase):
-
-    def test_str(self):
-        instance = CorsModel(cors='foo')
-        assert six.text_type(instance) == 'foo'
diff --git a/tests/testapp/__init__.py b/tests/testapp/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/tests/testapp/models.py b/tests/testapp/models.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..20e8e73c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testapp/models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+from corsheaders.models import AbstractCorsModel
+
+
+class CorsModel(AbstractCorsModel):
+    pass