diff --git a/docs/middleware/actions.md b/docs/middleware/actions.md
index 658a9174..0f64287e 100644
--- a/docs/middleware/actions.md
+++ b/docs/middleware/actions.md
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ This action has these additional `context` properties:
 
 `options` -- Object
 
-> The query [options]({{ site.baseurl }}{% link api/connection.md %}#createfetchquery). Any `fields`, `pollInterval` or `pollDebounce` sent by the client has already been removed. Set `pollInterval` or `pollDebounce` here to control how often this query polls the database.
+> The query [options]({{ site.baseurl }}{% link api/connection.md %}#createfetchquery). Any `fields`, `pollInterval` or `pollDebounce` sent by the client has already been removed. Set `pollInterval` or `pollDebounce` here to control how often this query polls the database. Both default to 0, except that `pollDebounce` defaults to 1000 ms for a query on more than one channel.
 
 `db` -- [DB]({{ site.baseurl }}{% link adapters/database.md %})
 
diff --git a/lib/backend.js b/lib/backend.js
index 82fa62b4..3d883ed8 100644
--- a/lib/backend.js
+++ b/lib/backend.js
@@ -661,6 +661,8 @@ Backend.prototype.queryFetch = function(agent, index, query, options, callback)
 // pollDebounce: Minimum delay between subsequent database polls. This is
 //  used to batch updates to reduce load on the database at the expense of
 //  liveness
+// pollInterval: Maximum delay between subsequent database polls. Set this to
+//  pick up changes that don't publish an op on the query's channels
 Backend.prototype.querySubscribe = function(agent, index, query, options, callback) {
   var start = Date.now();
   var backend = this;
diff --git a/lib/query-emitter.js b/lib/query-emitter.js
index 335ba6a5..d69f5d2e 100644
--- a/lib/query-emitter.js
+++ b/lib/query-emitter.js
@@ -27,8 +27,7 @@ function QueryEmitter(request, streams, ids, extra) {
         streams.length > 1 ? 1000 : 0;
   this.pollInterval =
     (typeof this.options.pollInterval === 'number') ? this.options.pollInterval :
-      (typeof this.db.pollInterval === 'number') ? this.db.pollInterval :
-        streams.length > 1 ? 1000 : 0;
+      (typeof this.db.pollInterval === 'number') ? this.db.pollInterval : 0;
 
   this._polling = false;
   this._pendingPoll = null;
diff --git a/test/client/query-subscribe.js b/test/client/query-subscribe.js
index 0fba3d75..cd74addb 100644
--- a/test/client/query-subscribe.js
+++ b/test/client/query-subscribe.js
@@ -127,7 +127,6 @@ module.exports = function(options) {
 
         it('does not duplicate messages', function(done) {
           var connection = this.backend.connect();
-          this.backend.db.pollInterval = 0;
           this.backend.db.pollDebounce = 0;
           var count = 0;
           var query = connection.createSubscribeQuery(
@@ -156,6 +155,19 @@ module.exports = function(options) {
           });
         });
 
+        it('does not poll the database on a timer', function(done) {
+          var clock = util.useFakeTimers();
+          var connection = this.backend.connect();
+          var db = this.backend.db;
+          connection.createSubscribeQuery('dogs', this.matchAllDbQuery, null, function(err) {
+            if (err) return done(err);
+            sinon.spy(db, 'queryPoll');
+            clock.tick(5000);
+            expect(db.queryPoll.called).to.be.false;
+            done();
+          });
+        });
+
         commonCustomChannelsErrorHandlingTests();
         commonTests(options);
       });
@@ -739,7 +751,6 @@ function commonTests(options) {
     var clock = util.useFakeTimers();
     var connection = this.backend.connect();
     var db = this.backend.db;
-    db.pollInterval = 0;
     sinon.spy(db, 'queryPoll');
     connection.createSubscribeQuery('dogs', this.matchAllDbQuery, {pollInterval: 50}, function(err) {
       if (err) return done(err);