diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/plpython.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/plpython.sgml
index a39438836fd..cc5c7efbe00 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/plpython.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/plpython.sgml
@@ -903,6 +903,8 @@ rv = plpy.execute("SELECT * FROM my_table", 5)
 <programlisting>
 foo = rv[i]["my_column"]
 </programlisting>
+      The number of rows returned can be obtained using the built-in
+      <function>len</function> function.
      </para>
 
      <para>
@@ -912,7 +914,10 @@ foo = rv[i]["my_column"]
         <term><literal><function>nrows</function>()</literal></term>
         <listitem>
          <para>
-          Returns the number of rows returned or processed by the query.
+          Returns the number of rows processed by the command.  Note that this
+          is not necessarily the same as the number of rows returned.  For
+          example, an <command>UPDATE</command> command will set this value but
+          won't return any rows (unless <literal>RETURNING</literal> is used).
          </para>
         </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/pl/plpython/expected/plpython_spi.out b/src/pl/plpython/expected/plpython_spi.out
index f3709aeb882..631a1a44255 100644
--- a/src/pl/plpython/expected/plpython_spi.out
+++ b/src/pl/plpython/expected/plpython_spi.out
@@ -150,6 +150,64 @@ CONTEXT:  Traceback (most recent call last):
   PL/Python function "result_metadata_test", line 6, in <module>
     plpy.info(result.colnames())
 PL/Python function "result_metadata_test"
+CREATE FUNCTION result_nrows_test(cmd text) RETURNS int
+AS $$
+result = plpy.execute(cmd)
+return result.nrows()
+$$ LANGUAGE plpythonu;
+SELECT result_nrows_test($$SELECT 1$$);
+ result_nrows_test 
+-------------------
+                 1
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT result_nrows_test($$CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE foo2 (a int, b text)$$);
+ result_nrows_test 
+-------------------
+                 0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT result_nrows_test($$INSERT INTO foo2 VALUES (1, 'one'), (2, 'two')$$);
+ result_nrows_test 
+-------------------
+                 2
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT result_nrows_test($$UPDATE foo2 SET b = '' WHERE a = 2$$);
+ result_nrows_test 
+-------------------
+                 1
+(1 row)
+
+CREATE FUNCTION result_len_test(cmd text) RETURNS int
+AS $$
+result = plpy.execute(cmd)
+return len(result)
+$$ LANGUAGE plpythonu;
+SELECT result_len_test($$SELECT 1$$);
+ result_len_test 
+-----------------
+               1
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT result_len_test($$CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE foo3 (a int, b text)$$);
+ result_len_test 
+-----------------
+               0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT result_len_test($$INSERT INTO foo3 VALUES (1, 'one'), (2, 'two')$$);
+ result_len_test 
+-----------------
+               0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT result_len_test($$UPDATE foo3 SET b= '' WHERE a = 2$$);
+ result_len_test 
+-----------------
+               0
+(1 row)
+
 -- cursor objects
 CREATE FUNCTION simple_cursor_test() RETURNS int AS $$
 res = plpy.cursor("select fname, lname from users")
diff --git a/src/pl/plpython/sql/plpython_spi.sql b/src/pl/plpython/sql/plpython_spi.sql
index d8457ce98c5..ce218e93b6d 100644
--- a/src/pl/plpython/sql/plpython_spi.sql
+++ b/src/pl/plpython/sql/plpython_spi.sql
@@ -110,6 +110,28 @@ $$ LANGUAGE plpythonu;
 SELECT result_metadata_test($$SELECT 1 AS foo, '11'::text AS bar UNION SELECT 2, '22'$$);
 SELECT result_metadata_test($$CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE foo1 (a int, b text)$$);
 
+CREATE FUNCTION result_nrows_test(cmd text) RETURNS int
+AS $$
+result = plpy.execute(cmd)
+return result.nrows()
+$$ LANGUAGE plpythonu;
+
+SELECT result_nrows_test($$SELECT 1$$);
+SELECT result_nrows_test($$CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE foo2 (a int, b text)$$);
+SELECT result_nrows_test($$INSERT INTO foo2 VALUES (1, 'one'), (2, 'two')$$);
+SELECT result_nrows_test($$UPDATE foo2 SET b = '' WHERE a = 2$$);
+
+CREATE FUNCTION result_len_test(cmd text) RETURNS int
+AS $$
+result = plpy.execute(cmd)
+return len(result)
+$$ LANGUAGE plpythonu;
+
+SELECT result_len_test($$SELECT 1$$);
+SELECT result_len_test($$CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE foo3 (a int, b text)$$);
+SELECT result_len_test($$INSERT INTO foo3 VALUES (1, 'one'), (2, 'two')$$);
+SELECT result_len_test($$UPDATE foo3 SET b= '' WHERE a = 2$$);
+
 
 -- cursor objects