diff --git a/arangod/RestHandler/RestCursorHandler.cpp b/arangod/RestHandler/RestCursorHandler.cpp
index b95ff763ff..820cf30ba9 100644
--- a/arangod/RestHandler/RestCursorHandler.cpp
+++ b/arangod/RestHandler/RestCursorHandler.cpp
@@ -447,15 +447,19 @@ void RestCursorHandler::buildOptions(VPackSlice const& slice) {
   bool hasCache = false;
   bool hasMemoryLimit = false;
   VPackSlice opts = slice.get("options");
-  bool isStream = false;
+  // "stream" option is important, so also accept it on top level and not only
+  // inside options
+  bool isStream = VelocyPackHelper::getBooleanValue(slice, "stream", false);
   if (opts.isObject()) {
-    isStream = VelocyPackHelper::getBooleanValue(opts, "stream", false);
+    if (!isStream) {
+      isStream = VelocyPackHelper::getBooleanValue(opts, "stream", false);
+    }
     for (auto const& it : VPackObjectIterator(opts)) {
       if (!it.key.isString() || it.value.isNone()) {
         continue;
       }
-      std::string keyName = it.key.copyString();
-      if (keyName == "count" || keyName == "batchSize" || keyName == "ttl" ||
+      velocypack::StringRef keyName = it.key.stringRef();
+      if (keyName == "count" || keyName == "batchSize" || keyName == "ttl" || keyName == "stream" ||
           (isStream && keyName == "fullCount")) {
         continue;  // filter out top-level keys
       } else if (keyName == "cache") {
@@ -466,6 +470,8 @@ void RestCursorHandler::buildOptions(VPackSlice const& slice) {
       _options->add(keyName, it.value);
     }
   }
+    
+  _options->add("stream", VPackValue(isStream));
 
   if (!isStream) {  // ignore cache & count for streaming queries
     bool val = VelocyPackHelper::getBooleanValue(slice, "count", false);
diff --git a/js/client/modules/@arangodb/arango-statement.js b/js/client/modules/@arangodb/arango-statement.js
index a128bf1983..8812def7f8 100644
--- a/js/client/modules/@arangodb/arango-statement.js
+++ b/js/client/modules/@arangodb/arango-statement.js
@@ -150,7 +150,8 @@ ArangoStatement.prototype.execute = function () {
   var body = {
     query: this._query,
     count: this._doCount,
-    bindVars: this._bindVars
+    bindVars: this._bindVars,
+    stream: this._stream
   };
 
   if (this._batchSize) {
@@ -170,8 +171,8 @@ ArangoStatement.prototype.execute = function () {
 
   arangosh.checkRequestResult(requestResult);
 
-  let isStream = false;
-  if (this._options && this._options.stream) {
+  let isStream = this._stream;
+  if (!isStream && this._options && this._options.stream) {
     isStream = this._options.stream;
   }
 
diff --git a/js/common/modules/@arangodb/arango-statement-common.js b/js/common/modules/@arangodb/arango-statement-common.js
index 66d2612648..58ab7ea2a1 100644
--- a/js/common/modules/@arangodb/arango-statement-common.js
+++ b/js/common/modules/@arangodb/arango-statement-common.js
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ function ArangoStatement (database, data) {
   this._bindVars = {};
   this._options = undefined;
   this._cache = undefined;
+  this._stream = false;
 
   if (!data) {
     throw 'ArangoStatement needs initial data';
@@ -73,6 +74,9 @@ function ArangoStatement (database, data) {
   if (data.cache !== undefined) {
     this.setCache(data.cache);
   }
+  if (data.stream !== undefined) {
+    this._stream = data.stream;
+  }
 }
 
 // //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/tests/js/client/shell/shell-statement.js b/tests/js/client/shell/shell-statement.js
index 63cf85a91f..349a782edc 100644
--- a/tests/js/client/shell/shell-statement.js
+++ b/tests/js/client/shell/shell-statement.js
@@ -197,6 +197,21 @@ function StatementStreamSuite () {
 
       assertFalse(cursor.hasNext());
     },
+    
+    testStreamCursorOnTopLevel : function () {
+      var stmt = db._createStatement({ query: "FOR i IN 1..100 RETURN i",
+                                       stream: true,
+                                       batchSize: 50});
+      var cursor = stmt.execute();
+
+      assertEqual(undefined, cursor.count());
+      for (var i = 1; i <= 100; ++i) {
+        assertEqual(i, cursor.next());
+        assertEqual(i !== 100, cursor.hasNext());
+      }
+
+      assertFalse(cursor.hasNext());
+    },
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @brief test to string
@@ -220,6 +235,27 @@ function StatementStreamSuite () {
         assertEqual(i !== 11, cursor.hasNext());
       }
 
+      assertFalse(cursor.hasNext());
+    },
+
+    testStreamToStringOnTopLevel : function () {
+      var stmt = db._createStatement({ query: "FOR i IN 1..11 RETURN i", 
+                                       stream: true });
+      var cursor = stmt.execute();
+
+      assertEqual(undefined, cursor.count()); // count is not supported
+      assertTrue(cursor.hasNext());
+
+      // print it. this should not modify the cursor apart from when it's accessed for printing
+      cursor.toString();
+      assertTrue(more === cursor);
+      assertTrue(cursor._stream);
+
+      for (var i = 1; i <= 11; ++i) {
+        assertEqual(i, cursor.next());
+        assertEqual(i !== 11, cursor.hasNext());
+      }
+
       assertFalse(cursor.hasNext());
     }