diff --git a/django/contrib/staticfiles/finders.py b/django/contrib/staticfiles/finders.py
index 80ec9e3c48a8..96eb7e71ddbb 100644
--- a/django/contrib/staticfiles/finders.py
+++ b/django/contrib/staticfiles/finders.py
@@ -26,6 +26,17 @@ def check(self, **kwargs):
             "configured correctly."
         )
 
+    def find(self, path, find_all=False):
+        """
+        Given a relative file path, find an absolute file path.
+
+        If the ``find_all`` parameter is False (default) return only the first
+        found file path; if True, return a list of all found files paths.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError(
+            "subclasses of BaseFinder must provide a find() method"
+        )
+
     def list(self, ignore_patterns):
         """
         Given an optional list of paths to ignore, return a two item iterable
diff --git a/tests/staticfiles_tests/test_finders.py b/tests/staticfiles_tests/test_finders.py
index 7efe86ab6a08..7ab3cd035082 100644
--- a/tests/staticfiles_tests/test_finders.py
+++ b/tests/staticfiles_tests/test_finders.py
@@ -9,6 +9,20 @@
 from .settings import TEST_ROOT
 
 
+class TestBaseFinder(SimpleTestCase):
+    def test_find(self):
+        finder = finders.BaseFinder()
+        msg = "subclasses of BaseFinder must provide a find() method"
+        with self.assertRaisesMessage(NotImplementedError, msg):
+            finder.find("file.txt")
+
+    def test_list(self):
+        finder = finders.BaseFinder()
+        msg = "subclasses of BaseFinder must provide a list() method"
+        with self.assertRaisesMessage(NotImplementedError, msg):
+            finder.list(None)
+
+
 class TestFinders:
     """
     Base finder test mixin.