diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/tests/test_pages_views.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/tests/test_pages_views.py
index 986bb260c..5a2958fb5 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/tests/test_pages_views.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/tests/test_pages_views.py
@@ -703,22 +703,44 @@ class TestSubpageBusinessRules(TestCase, WagtailTestUtils):
         self.login()
 
     def test_standard_subpage(self):
-        response = self.client.get(reverse('wagtailadmin_pages_add_subpage', args=(self.standard_index.id, )))
+        add_subpage_url = reverse('wagtailadmin_pages_add_subpage', args=(self.standard_index.id, ))
+
+        # explorer should contain a link to 'add child page'
+        response = self.client.get(reverse('wagtailadmin_explore', args=(self.standard_index.id, )))
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertContains(response, add_subpage_url)
+
+        # add_subpage should give us the full set of page types to choose
+        response = self.client.get(add_subpage_url)
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
         self.assertContains(response, 'Standard Child')
         self.assertContains(response, 'Business Child')
 
     def test_business_subpage(self):
-        response = self.client.get(reverse('wagtailadmin_pages_add_subpage', args=(self.business_index.id, )))
+        add_subpage_url = reverse('wagtailadmin_pages_add_subpage', args=(self.business_index.id, ))
+
+        # explorer should contain a link to 'add child page'
+        response = self.client.get(reverse('wagtailadmin_explore', args=(self.business_index.id, )))
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertContains(response, add_subpage_url)
+
+        # add_subpage should give us a cut-down set of page types to choose
+        response = self.client.get(add_subpage_url)
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
         self.assertNotContains(response, 'Standard Child')
         self.assertContains(response, 'Business Child')
 
     def test_business_child_subpage(self):
-        response = self.client.get(reverse('wagtailadmin_pages_add_subpage', args=(self.business_child.id, )))
+        add_subpage_url = reverse('wagtailadmin_pages_add_subpage', args=(self.business_child.id, ))
+
+        # explorer should not contain a link to 'add child page', as this page doesn't accept subpages
+        response = self.client.get(reverse('wagtailadmin_explore', args=(self.business_child.id, )))
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
-        self.assertNotContains(response, 'Standard Child')
-        self.assertEqual(0, len(response.context['page_types']))
+        self.assertNotContains(response, add_subpage_url)
+
+        # this also means that fetching add_subpage is blocked at the permission-check level
+        response = self.client.get(reverse('wagtailadmin_pages_add_subpage', args=(self.business_child.id, )))
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 403)
 
     def test_cannot_add_invalid_subpage_type(self):
         # cannot add SimplePage as a child of BusinessIndex, as SimplePage is not present in subpage_types
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py b/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
index 5c3f9d1c5..d7d23c988 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
@@ -843,6 +843,8 @@ class PagePermissionTester(object):
     def can_add_subpage(self):
         if not self.user.is_active:
             return False
+        if not self.page.specific_class.clean_subpage_types():  # this page model has an empty subpage_types list, so no subpages are allowed
+            return False
         return self.user.is_superuser or ('add' in self.permissions)
 
     def can_edit(self):
@@ -897,10 +899,13 @@ class PagePermissionTester(object):
         """
         Niggly special case for creating and publishing a page in one go.
         Differs from can_publish in that we want to be able to publish subpages of root, but not
-        to be able to publish root itself
+        to be able to publish root itself. (Also, can_publish_subpage returns false if the page
+        does not allow subpages at all.)
         """
         if not self.user.is_active:
             return False
+        if not self.page.specific_class.clean_subpage_types():  # this page model has an empty subpage_types list, so no subpages are allowed
+            return False
 
         return self.user.is_superuser or ('publish' in self.permissions)