diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/misc.php b/wp-admin/includes/misc.php
index 5b609e45ba..13382754e7 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/misc.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/misc.php
@@ -7,17 +7,50 @@
  */
 
 /**
- * {@internal Missing Short Description}}
+ * Returns whether the server is running Apache with the mod_rewrite module loaded.
  *
  * @since 2.0.0
  *
- * @return unknown
+ * @return bool
  */
 function got_mod_rewrite() {
 	$got_rewrite = apache_mod_loaded('mod_rewrite', true);
+
+	/**
+	 * Filter whether Apache and mod_rewrite are present.
+	 *
+	 * This filter was previously used to force URL rewriting for other servers,
+	 * like nginx. Use the got_url_rewrite filter in got_url_rewrite() instead.
+	 *
+	 * @see got_url_rewrite()
+	 *
+	 * @since 2.5.0
+	 * @param bool $got_rewrite Whether Apache and mod_rewrite are present.
+	 */
 	return apply_filters('got_rewrite', $got_rewrite);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Returns whether the server supports URL rewriting.
+ *
+ * Detects Apache's mod_rewrite, IIS 7.0+ permalink support, and nginx.
+ *
+ * @since 3.7.0
+ *
+ * @return bool Whether the server supports URL rewriting.
+ */
+function got_url_rewrite() {
+	$got_url_rewrite = ( got_mod_rewrite() || $GLOBALS['is_nginx'] || iis7_supports_permalinks() );
+
+	/**
+	 * Filter whether URL rewriting is available.
+	 *
+	 * @since 3.7.0
+	 * @param bool $got_url_rewrite Whether URL rewriting is available.
+	 */
+	return apply_filters( 'got_url_rewrite', $got_url_rewrite );
+}
+
 /**
  * {@internal Missing Short Description}}
  *
diff --git a/wp-admin/options-permalink.php b/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
index e045982b28..d8d454cdb6 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ $home_path = get_home_path();
 $iis7_permalinks = iis7_supports_permalinks();
 
 $prefix = $blog_prefix = '';
-if ( ! got_mod_rewrite() && ! $iis7_permalinks )
+if ( ! got_url_rewrite() )
 	$prefix = '/index.php';
 if ( is_multisite() && !is_subdomain_install() && is_main_site() )
 	$blog_prefix = '/blog';
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ if ( $iis7_permalinks ) {
 		$writable = true;
 	else
 		$writable = false;
+} elseif ( $is_nginx ) {
+	$writable = false;
 } else {
 	if ( ( ! file_exists($home_path . '.htaccess') && is_writable($home_path) ) || is_writable($home_path . '.htaccess') )
 		$writable = true;
@@ -152,6 +154,8 @@ if ( ! is_multisite() ) {
 			_e('Permalink structure updated. Remove write access on web.config file now!');
 		else
 			_e('Permalink structure updated.');
+	} elseif ( $is_nginx ) {
+		_e('Permalink structure updated.');
 	} else {
 		if ( $permalink_structure && ! $usingpi && ! $writable )
 			_e('You should update your .htaccess now.');
@@ -226,9 +230,9 @@ $structures = array(
 
 <h3 class="title"><?php _e('Optional'); ?></h3>
 <?php
-$suffix = '';
-if ( ! $is_apache && ! $iis7_permalinks )
-	$suffix = $wp_rewrite->index . '/';
+$suffix = $prefix;
+if ( $suffix )
+	$suffix = ltrim( $suffix, '/' ) . '/';
 ?>
 <p><?php
 /* translators: %s is a placeholder that must come at the start of the URL path. */
@@ -269,7 +273,7 @@ printf( __('If you like, you may enter custom structures for your category and t
 <p><?php _e('If you temporarily make your site&#8217;s root directory writable for us to generate the <code>web.config</code> file automatically, do not forget to revert the permissions after the file has been created.') ?></p>
 		<?php endif; ?>
 	<?php endif; ?>
-<?php else :
+<?php elseif ( ! $is_nginx ) :
 	if ( $permalink_structure && ! $usingpi && ! $writable ) : ?>
 <p><?php _e('If your <code>.htaccess</code> file were <a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_File_Permissions">writable</a>, we could do this automatically, but it isn&#8217;t so these are the mod_rewrite rules you should have in your <code>.htaccess</code> file. Click in the field and press <kbd>CTRL + a</kbd> to select all.') ?></p>
 <form action="options-permalink.php" method="post">
diff --git a/wp-includes/vars.php b/wp-includes/vars.php
index f55cdbd9fd..1eac8081de 100644
--- a/wp-includes/vars.php
+++ b/wp-includes/vars.php
@@ -86,6 +86,12 @@ $is_IE = ( $is_macIE || $is_winIE );
  */
 $is_apache = (strpos($_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE'], 'Apache') !== false || strpos($_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE'], 'LiteSpeed') !== false);
 
+/**
+ * Whether the server software is Nginx or something else 
+ * @global bool $is_nginx 
+ */ 
+$is_nginx = (strpos($_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE'], 'nginx') !== false); 
+ 
 /**
  * Whether the server software is IIS or something else
  * @global bool $is_IIS