diff --git a/db/dbcommands.cpp b/db/dbcommands.cpp
index 95088346b5a..bc5ad99956a 100644
--- a/db/dbcommands.cpp
+++ b/db/dbcommands.cpp
@@ -1472,13 +1472,25 @@ namespace mongo {
             
             set<BSONElement,BSONElementCmpWithoutField> map;
             long long size = 0;
-            
-            auto_ptr<DBClientCursor> cursor = db.query( ns , query , 0 , 0 , &keyPattern );
-            while ( cursor->more() ){
-                BSONObj o = cursor->next();
+
+            auto_ptr<Cursor> cursor = QueryPlanSet(ns.c_str() , query , BSONObj() ).getBestGuess()->newCursor();
+            auto_ptr<CoveredIndexMatcher> matcher;
+            if ( ! query.isEmpty() )
+                matcher.reset( new CoveredIndexMatcher( query , cursor->indexKeyPattern() ) );
+
+            while ( cursor->ok() ){
+                if ( matcher.get() && ! matcher->matchesCurrent( cursor.get() ) ){
+                    cursor->advance();
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                BSONObj o = cursor->current();
+                cursor->advance();
+                
                 BSONElement e = o.getFieldDotted( key.c_str() );
                 if ( ! e.type() )
                     continue;
+
                 if ( map.insert( e ).second ){
                     size += o.objsize() + 20;
                     uassert( 10044 ,  "distinct too big, 4mb cap" , size < 4 * 1024 * 1024 );
diff --git a/db/matcher.cpp b/db/matcher.cpp
index 8c904e36638..d77ac94431f 100644
--- a/db/matcher.cpp
+++ b/db/matcher.cpp
@@ -153,6 +153,10 @@ namespace mongo {
                           );
 
     }
+
+    bool CoveredIndexMatcher::matchesCurrent( Cursor * cursor , MatchDetails * details ){
+        return matches( cursor->currKey() , cursor->currLoc() , details );
+    }
     
     bool CoveredIndexMatcher::matches(const BSONObj &key, const DiskLoc &recLoc , MatchDetails * details ) {
         if ( details )
diff --git a/db/matcher.h b/db/matcher.h
index 3839b68aab5..6e2cad7233e 100644
--- a/db/matcher.h
+++ b/db/matcher.h
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@
 #include <pcrecpp.h>
 
 namespace mongo {
-
+    
+    class Cursor;
     class CoveredIndexMatcher;
     class Matcher;
 
@@ -190,6 +191,7 @@ namespace mongo {
         CoveredIndexMatcher(const BSONObj &pattern, const BSONObj &indexKeyPattern);
         bool matches(const BSONObj &o){ return _docMatcher.matches( o ); }
         bool matches(const BSONObj &key, const DiskLoc &recLoc , MatchDetails * details = 0 );
+        bool matchesCurrent( Cursor * cursor , MatchDetails * details = 0 );
         bool needRecord(){ return _needRecord; }
 
         Matcher& docMatcher() { return _docMatcher; }
diff --git a/db/queryoptimizer.cpp b/db/queryoptimizer.cpp
index fa08323a973..a71db42d236 100644
--- a/db/queryoptimizer.cpp
+++ b/db/queryoptimizer.cpp
@@ -451,6 +451,11 @@ namespace mongo {
         b.append( "allPlans", arr );
         return b.obj();
     }
+
+    QueryPlanSet::PlanPtr QueryPlanSet::getBestGuess() const {
+        assert( plans_.size() );
+        return plans_[0];
+    }
     
     QueryPlanSet::Runner::Runner( QueryPlanSet &plans, QueryOp &op ) :
     op_( op ),
diff --git a/db/queryoptimizer.h b/db/queryoptimizer.h
index 1cb50528253..1d00f8a0b8e 100644
--- a/db/queryoptimizer.h
+++ b/db/queryoptimizer.h
@@ -117,6 +117,10 @@ namespace mongo {
     // a QueryOp on these plans.
     class QueryPlanSet {
     public:
+
+        typedef boost::shared_ptr< QueryPlan > PlanPtr;
+        typedef vector< PlanPtr > PlanSet;
+
         QueryPlanSet( const char *ns,
                      const BSONObj &query,
                      const BSONObj &order,
@@ -133,10 +137,9 @@ namespace mongo {
         const FieldRangeSet &fbs() const { return fbs_; }
         BSONObj explain() const;
         bool usingPrerecordedPlan() const { return usingPrerecordedPlan_; }
+        PlanPtr getBestGuess() const;
     private:
         void addOtherPlans( bool checkFirst );
-        typedef boost::shared_ptr< QueryPlan > PlanPtr;
-        typedef vector< PlanPtr > PlanSet;
         void addPlan( PlanPtr plan, bool checkFirst ) {
             if ( checkFirst && plan->indexKey().woCompare( plans_[ 0 ]->indexKey() ) == 0 )
                 return;
diff --git a/jstests/distinct_speed1.js b/jstests/distinct_speed1.js
index fa2f3b9ab67..4cae5b0ae06 100644
--- a/jstests/distinct_speed1.js
+++ b/jstests/distinct_speed1.js
@@ -20,3 +20,7 @@ for ( i=0; i<3; i++ ){
     print( "it: " + Date.timeFunc( fast ) );
     print( "di: " + Date.timeFunc( slow ) );
 }
+
+
+t.ensureIndex( { x : 1 } );
+t.distinct( "x" , { x : 5 } )