diff --git a/django/core/mail.py b/django/core/mail.py
index b9966c2af0..e7dcfb4132 100644
--- a/django/core/mail.py
+++ b/django/core/mail.py
@@ -42,10 +42,6 @@ def send_mail(subject, message, from_email, recipient_list, fail_silently=False,
     If auth_user is None, the EMAIL_HOST_USER setting is used.
     If auth_password is None, the EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD setting is used.
     """
-    if auth_user is None:
-        auth_user = settings.EMAIL_HOST_USER
-    if auth_password is None:
-        auth_password = settings.EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD
     return send_mass_mail([[subject, message, from_email, recipient_list]], fail_silently, auth_user, auth_password)
 
 def send_mass_mail(datatuple, fail_silently=False, auth_user=None, auth_password=None):