diff --git a/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java b/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
index 776026fdb4..3f27cb0a83 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
@@ -195,8 +195,28 @@ public <R> Observable<R> compose(Transformer<? super T, ? extends R> transformer
     public interface Transformer<T, R> extends Func1<Observable<T>, Observable<R>> {
         // cover for generics insanity
     }
-    
-    
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a Single that emits the single item emitted by the source Observable, if that Observable
+     * emits only a single item. If the source Observable emits more than one item or no items, notify of an
+     * {@code IllegalArgumentException} or {@code NoSuchElementException} respectively.
+     * <p>
+     * <dl>
+     *  <dt><b>Scheduler:</b></dt>
+     *  <dd>{@code toSingle} does not operate by default on a particular {@link Scheduler}.</dd>
+     * </dl>
+     *
+     * @return a Single that emits the single item emitted by the source Observable
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException
+     *             if the source observable emits more than one item
+     * @throws NoSuchElementException
+     *             if the source observable emits no items
+     */
+    @Experimental
+    public Single<T> toSingle() {
+        return new Single<T>(OnSubscribeSingle.create(this));
+    }
+
 
     /* *********************************************************************************************************
      * Operators Below Here
diff --git a/src/main/java/rx/internal/operators/OnSubscribeSingle.java b/src/main/java/rx/internal/operators/OnSubscribeSingle.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..63d4d0a49a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/rx/internal/operators/OnSubscribeSingle.java
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2014 Netflix, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package rx.internal.operators;
+
+import rx.Observable;
+import rx.Single;
+import rx.SingleSubscriber;
+import rx.Subscriber;
+
+import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
+
+/**
+ * Allows conversion of an Observable to a Single ensuring that exactly one item is emitted - no more and no less.
+ * Also forwards errors as appropriate.
+ */
+public class OnSubscribeSingle<T> implements Single.OnSubscribe<T> {
+
+    private final Observable<T> observable;
+
+    public OnSubscribeSingle(Observable<T> observable) {
+        this.observable = observable;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void call(final SingleSubscriber<? super T> child) {
+        Subscriber<T> parent = new Subscriber<T>() {
+            private boolean emittedTooMany = false;
+            private boolean itemEmitted = false;
+            private T emission = null;
+
+            @Override
+            public void onStart() {
+                // We request 2 here since we need 1 for the single and 1 to check that the observable
+                // doesn't emit more than one item
+                request(2);
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onCompleted() {
+                if (emittedTooMany) {
+                    // Don't need to do anything here since we already sent an error downstream
+                } else {
+                    if (itemEmitted) {
+                        child.onSuccess(emission);
+                    } else {
+                        child.onError(new NoSuchElementException("Observable emitted no items"));
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onError(Throwable e) {
+                child.onError(e);
+                unsubscribe();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onNext(T t) {
+                if (itemEmitted) {
+                    emittedTooMany = true;
+                    child.onError(new IllegalArgumentException("Observable emitted too many elements"));
+                    unsubscribe();
+                } else {
+                    itemEmitted = true;
+                    emission = t;
+                }
+            }
+        };
+        child.add(parent);
+        observable.subscribe(parent);
+    }
+
+    public static <T> OnSubscribeSingle<T> create(Observable<T> observable) {
+        return new OnSubscribeSingle<T>(observable);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/rx/internal/operators/OnSubscribeSingleTest.java b/src/test/java/rx/internal/operators/OnSubscribeSingleTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6bc24dbe75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/rx/internal/operators/OnSubscribeSingleTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2014 Netflix, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package rx.internal.operators;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import rx.Observable;
+import rx.Single;
+import rx.observers.TestSubscriber;
+
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
+
+public class OnSubscribeSingleTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testJustSingleItemObservable() {
+        TestSubscriber<String> subscriber = TestSubscriber.create();
+        Single<String> single = Observable.just("Hello World!").toSingle();
+        single.subscribe(subscriber);
+
+        subscriber.assertReceivedOnNext(Collections.singletonList("Hello World!"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testErrorObservable() {
+        TestSubscriber<String> subscriber = TestSubscriber.create();
+        IllegalArgumentException error = new IllegalArgumentException("Error");
+        Single<String> single = Observable.<String>error(error).toSingle();
+        single.subscribe(subscriber);
+
+        subscriber.assertError(error);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testJustTwoEmissionsObservableThrowsError() {
+        TestSubscriber<String> subscriber = TestSubscriber.create();
+        Single<String> single = Observable.just("First", "Second").toSingle();
+        single.subscribe(subscriber);
+
+        subscriber.assertError(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEmptyObservable() {
+        TestSubscriber<String> subscriber = TestSubscriber.create();
+        Single<String> single = Observable.<String>empty().toSingle();
+        single.subscribe(subscriber);
+
+        subscriber.assertError(NoSuchElementException.class);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testRepeatObservableThrowsError() {
+        TestSubscriber<String> subscriber = TestSubscriber.create();
+        Single<String> single = Observable.just("First", "Second").repeat().toSingle();
+        single.subscribe(subscriber);
+
+        subscriber.assertError(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+    }
+}