diff --git a/doc/api/streams.markdown b/doc/api/streams.markdown
index 6392eec7bb..88ae04f5c0 100644
--- a/doc/api/streams.markdown
+++ b/doc/api/streams.markdown
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ Resumes the incoming `'data'` events after a `pause()`.
 
 Closes the underlying file descriptor. Stream will not emit any more events.
 
-### stream.pipe(destination, [options])
+### stream.pipe(destination, [options], [filter])
 
 This is a `Stream.prototype` method available on all `Stream`s.
 
@@ -92,6 +92,48 @@ NOTE: If the source stream does not support `pause()` and `resume()`, this funct
 adds simple definitions which simply emit `'pause'` and `'resume'` events on
 the source stream.
 
+
+The `filter` argument is an optional callback which can be used to filter all
+data passing through the pipe. This makes it easy to do arbitrary transforms
+(like gzip) while still maintaining the proper throttling. `filter` gets
+three arguments: a buffer, a write function, and a done function. Here is an
+example of a chat which uses a `filter` to append each message with the
+address of the sender.
+
+    var net = require('net');
+    var people = [];
+
+    function address(socket) {
+      return '<' + socket.remoteAddress + ':' + socket.remotePort + '> ';
+    }
+
+    net.Server(function (socket) {
+      socket.write("hello!\r\n");
+
+      people.forEach(function (p) {
+        socket.pipe(p, { end: false }, function (d, write, done) {
+          write(address(socket));
+          write(d);
+          done();
+        });
+
+        p.pipe(socket, { end: false }, function (d, write, done) {
+          write(address(p));
+          write(d);
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+
+      people.push(socket);
+
+      socket.on('end', function () {
+        people.splice(people.indexOf(socket), 1);
+      });
+    }).listen(8000);
+
+
+
+
 ## Writable Stream
 
 A `Writable Stream` has the following methods, members, and events.
diff --git a/lib/stream.js b/lib/stream.js
index 98f0c37fcb..e92c1bc5db 100644
--- a/lib/stream.js
+++ b/lib/stream.js
@@ -7,16 +7,55 @@ function Stream() {
 util.inherits(Stream, events.EventEmitter);
 exports.Stream = Stream;
 
-Stream.prototype.pipe = function(dest, options) {
+Stream.prototype.pipe = function(dest /* options, filter */) {
   var source = this;
 
+  // parse arguments
+  var options, filter;
+  if (typeof arguments[1] == 'object') {
+    options = arguments[1];
+    filter = arguments[2];
+  } else {
+    filter = arguments[1];
+  }
+
   function ondata(chunk) {
+    // FIXME shouldn't need to test writable - this is working around bug.
+    // .writable should not change before a 'end' event is fired.
     if (dest.writable) {
       if (false === dest.write(chunk)) source.pause();
     }
   }
 
-  source.on('data', ondata);
+  if (!filter) {
+    source.on('data', ondata);
+  } else {
+    //
+    // TODO: needs tests
+    //
+    var wait = false;
+    var waitQueue = [];
+
+    function done () {
+      wait = false;
+      // Drain the waitQueue
+      if (dest.writable && waitQueue.length) {
+        wait = true;
+        filter(waitQueue.shift(), ondata, done);
+      }
+    }
+
+    source.on('data', function (d) {
+      if (wait) {
+        waitQueue.push(d);
+        source.pause();
+      } else {
+        wait = true;
+        filter(d, ondata, done);
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
 
   function ondrain() {
     if (source.readable) source.resume();