diff --git a/lib/query.js b/lib/query.js
index fe7f8509a71..5033f6220b4 100644
--- a/lib/query.js
+++ b/lib/query.js
@@ -2350,13 +2350,24 @@ PopulateOptions.prototype.constructor = Object;
  *       // the stream is closed
  *     });
  *
+ * ####Valid options
+ *
+ *   - transform: optional function which accepts a mongoose document. The return value of the function will be emitted.
+ *
+ * ####Example
+ *
+ *     // JSON.stringify all documents before emitting
+ *     var stream = Thing.find().stream({ transform: JSON.stringify });
+ *     stream.pipe(writeStream);
+ *
  * @return {QueryStream}
+ * @param {Object} [options]
  * @see QueryStream
  * @api public
  */
 
-Query.prototype.stream = function stream () {
-  return new QueryStream(this);
+Query.prototype.stream = function stream (opts) {
+  return new QueryStream(this, opts);
 }
 
 // helpers
diff --git a/lib/querystream.js b/lib/querystream.js
index 1d5214b2758..064bd7a31ec 100644
--- a/lib/querystream.js
+++ b/lib/querystream.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 var Stream = require('stream').Stream
 var utils = require('./utils')
+var K = function(k){ return k }
 
 /**
  * Provides a Node.js 0.8 style [ReadStream](http://nodejs.org/docs/v0.8.21/api/stream.html#stream_readable_stream) interface for Queries.
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ var utils = require('./utils')
  * @api public
  */
 
-function QueryStream (query) {
+function QueryStream (query, options) {
   Stream.call(this);
 
   this.query = query;
@@ -48,6 +49,9 @@ function QueryStream (query) {
   this._buffer = null;
   this._inline = T_INIT;
   this._running = false;
+  this._transform = options && 'function' == typeof options.transform
+    ? options.transform
+    : K;
 
   // give time to hook up events
   var self = this;
@@ -197,7 +201,7 @@ QueryStream.prototype._onNextObject = function _onNextObject (err, doc) {
   }
 
   if (this.query.options && true === this.query.options.lean)  {
-    this.emit('data', doc);
+    this.emit('data', this._transform(doc));
 
     // trampoline management
     if (T_IDLE === this._inline) {
@@ -216,7 +220,7 @@ QueryStream.prototype._onNextObject = function _onNextObject (err, doc) {
   var self = this;
   instance.init(doc, this.query, function (err) {
     if (err) return self.destroy(err);
-    self.emit('data', instance);
+    self.emit('data', self._transform(instance));
 
     // trampoline management
     if (T_IDLE === self._inline) {
diff --git a/test/model.stream.test.js b/test/model.stream.test.js
index f97d249fa81..606a9d23e6a 100644
--- a/test/model.stream.test.js
+++ b/test/model.stream.test.js
@@ -223,11 +223,12 @@ describe('query stream:', function(){
       , filename = '/tmp/_mongoose_stream_out.txt'
       , out = fs.createWriteStream(filename)
 
-    var stream = P.find().sort('name').limit(20).stream();
+    var opts = { transform: JSON.stringify }
+    var stream = P.find().sort('name').limit(20).stream(opts);
     stream.pipe(out);
 
     stream.on('error', cb);
-    stream.on('close', cb);
+    out.on('close', cb);
 
     function cb (err) {
       db.close();