diff --git a/lib/couchrest/helper/streamer.rb b/lib/couchrest/helper/streamer.rb
index b320bc7..d553ad9 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/helper/streamer.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/helper/streamer.rb
@@ -27,14 +27,19 @@ def escape_quotes(data)
 
     def open_pipe(cmd, &block)
       first = nil
+      prev = nil
       IO.popen(cmd) do |f|
         first = f.gets # discard header
         while line = f.gets 
           row = parse_line(line)
           block.call row unless row.nil? # last line "}]" discarded
+          prev = line
         end
       end
-      parse_first(first)
+
+      raise RestClient::ServerBrokeConnection if $? && $?.exitstatus != 0
+
+      parse_first(first, prev)
     end
 
     def parse_line line
@@ -44,14 +49,11 @@ def parse_line line
       end
     end
 
-    def parse_first first
+    def parse_first first, last
       return nil unless first
-      parts = first.split(',')
-      parts.pop
-      line = parts.join(',')
-      MultiJson.decode("#{line}}")
-    rescue
-      nil
+      header = MultiJson.decode(last ? first + last : first)
+      header.delete("rows")
+      header
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/spec/couchrest/helpers/streamer_spec.rb b/spec/couchrest/helpers/streamer_spec.rb
index 7df67a7..56f43d8 100644
--- a/spec/couchrest/helpers/streamer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/couchrest/helpers/streamer_spec.rb
@@ -40,6 +40,78 @@
     count.should == 5
     header.should == {"total_rows" => 1001, "offset" => 0}
   end
+
+  it "should GET no rows in a view with limit=0" do
+    count = 0
+    header = @streamer.get("#{@db.root}/_all_docs?include_docs=true&limit=0") do |row|
+      count += 1
+    end
+    count.should == 0
+    header.should == {"total_rows" => 1001, "offset" => 0}
+  end
+
+  it "should raise an exception receives malformed data" do
+    IO.stub(:popen) do |cmd, block|
+      class F
+        def initialize
+          @lines = [
+            '{"total_rows": 123, "offset": "0", "rows": [',
+            '{"foo": 1},',
+            '{"foo": 2},',
+          ]
+        end
+
+        def gets
+          @lines.shift
+        end
+      end
+
+      f = F.new
+      block.call f
+
+      IO.unstub(:popen)
+      IO.popen 'true' do; end
+    end
+
+    count = 0
+    expect do
+      @streamer.get("#{@db.root}/_all_docs?include_docs=true&limit=0") do |row|
+        count += 1
+      end
+    end.should raise_error(MultiJson::DecodeError)
+  end
+
+  it "should raise an exception if the couch connection fails" do
+    IO.stub(:popen) do |cmd, block|
+      class F
+        def initialize
+          @lines = [
+            '{"total_rows": 123, "offset": "0", "rows": [',
+            '{"foo": 1},',
+            '{"foo": 2},',
+          ]
+        end
+
+        def gets
+          @lines.shift
+        end
+      end
+
+      block.call F.new
+
+      IO.unstub(:popen)
+      IO.popen 'false' do; end
+    end
+
+    count = 0
+
+    expect do
+      @streamer.get("#{@db.root}/_all_docs?include_docs=true&limit=0") do |row|
+        count += 1
+      end
+    end.should raise_error(RestClient::ServerBrokeConnection)
+
+    count.should == 2
   end
 
   it "should POST for each row in a view" do