diff --git a/src/monger/query.clj b/src/monger/query.clj
index 2b0092a..a4dc99a 100644
--- a/src/monger/query.clj
+++ b/src/monger/query.clj
@@ -36,14 +36,15 @@
 (defn empty-query
   ([]
      {
-      :query           {}
-      :sort            {}
-      :fields          []
-      :skip            0
-      :limit           0
-      :batch-size      256
-      :hint            nil
-      :snapshot        false
+      :query             {}
+      :sort              {}
+      :fields            []
+      :skip              0
+      :limit             0
+      :batch-size        256
+      :hint              nil
+      :snapshot          false
+      :keywordize-fields true
       })
   ([^DBCollection coll]
      (merge (empty-query) { :collection coll })))
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@
   (to-db-object (zipmap fields (repeat 1))))
 
 (defn exec
-  [{ :keys [collection query fields skip limit sort batch-size hint snapshot read-preference] :or { limit 0 batch-size 256 skip 0 } }]
+  [{ :keys [collection query fields skip limit sort batch-size hint snapshot read-preference keywordize-fields] :or { limit 0 batch-size 256 skip 0 } }]
   (let [cursor (doto ^DBCursor (.find ^DBCollection collection (to-db-object query) (fields-to-db-object fields))
                      (.limit limit)
                      (.skip  skip)
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@
       (.snapshot cursor))
     (when read-preference
       (.setReadPreference cursor read-preference))
-    (map (fn [x] (from-db-object x true))
+    (map (fn [x] (from-db-object x keywordize-fields))
          (seq cursor))))
 
 ;;
@@ -107,6 +108,10 @@
   [m ^ReadPreference rp]
   (merge m { :read-preference rp }))
 
+(defn keywordize-fields
+  [m bool]
+  (merge m { :keywordize-fields bool }))
+
 (defn paginate
   [m & { :keys [page per-page] :or { page 1 per-page 10 } }]
   (merge m { :limit per-page :skip (monger.internal.pagination/offset-for page per-page) }))
diff --git a/test/monger/test/querying.clj b/test/monger/test/querying.clj
index ca106d6..7abfc43 100644
--- a/test/monger/test/querying.clj
+++ b/test/monger/test/querying.clj
@@ -260,3 +260,23 @@
                              (merge top3)
                              (merge by-population-desc))]
     (is (= result [ca-doc tx-doc ny-doc]))))
+
+(deftest combined-querying-dsl-example2
+  (let [coll "docs"
+        ma-doc { :_id (ObjectId.) :name "Massachusetts" :iso "MA" :population 6547629  :joined_in 1788 :capital "Boston" }
+        de-doc { :_id (ObjectId.) :name "Delaware"      :iso "DE" :population 897934   :joined_in 1787 :capital "Dover"  }
+        ny-doc { :_id (ObjectId.) :name "New York"      :iso "NY" :population 19378102 :joined_in 1788 :capital "Albany" }
+        ca-doc { :_id (ObjectId.) :name "California"    :iso "CA" :population 37253956 :joined_in 1850 :capital "Sacramento" }
+        tx-doc { :_id (ObjectId.) :name "Texas"         :iso "TX" :population 25145561 :joined_in 1845 :capital "Austin" }
+        top3               (partial-query (limit 3))
+        by-population-desc (partial-query (sort { :population -1 }))
+        _                  (mgcol/insert-batch coll [ma-doc de-doc ny-doc ca-doc tx-doc])
+        result             (with-collection coll
+                             (find {})
+                             (merge top3)
+                             (merge by-population-desc)
+                             (keywordize-fields false))]
+    ;; documents have fields as strings,
+    ;; not keywords
+    (is (= (map #(% "name") result)
+           (map #(% :name) [ca-doc tx-doc ny-doc])))))