diff --git a/client/parallel.cpp b/client/parallel.cpp
index 3830b9b7b16..323683d8b08 100644
--- a/client/parallel.cpp
+++ b/client/parallel.cpp
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ namespace mongo {
         _options = q.queryOptions;
         _fields = q.fields;
         _batchSize = q.ntoreturn;
+        if ( _batchSize == 1 )
+            _batchSize = 2;
 
         _done = false;
     }