diff --git a/Yesod/Persist.hs b/Yesod/Persist.hs
--- a/Yesod/Persist.hs
+++ b/Yesod/Persist.hs
@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE TypeFamilies #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE FlexibleContexts #-}
-{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE RankNTypes #-}
+{-# OPTIONS_GHC -fno-warn-orphans #-}
 module Yesod.Persist
     ( YesodPersist (..)
+    , defaultRunDB
+    , YesodPersistRunner (..)
+    , defaultGetDBRunner
+    , DBRunner (..)
+    , runDBSource
+    , respondSourceDB
     , YesodDB
     , get404
     , getBy404
@@ -12,35 +19,116 @@
 
 import Database.Persist
 import Database.Persist.TH
-import Control.Monad.Trans.Class (MonadTrans)
+import Database.Persist.Sql (SqlPersistT, unSqlPersistT)
+import Control.Monad.Trans.Reader (runReaderT)
 
-import Yesod.Handler
+import Yesod.Core
+import Data.Conduit
+import Blaze.ByteString.Builder (Builder)
+import Data.IORef.Lifted
+import Data.Conduit.Pool
+import Control.Monad.Trans.Resource
+import qualified Database.Persist.Sql as SQL
 
-type YesodDB sub master = YesodPersistBackend master (GHandler sub master)
+type YesodDB site = YesodPersistBackend site (HandlerT site IO)
 
-class YesodPersist master where
-    type YesodPersistBackend master :: (* -> *) -> * -> *
-    runDB :: YesodDB sub master a -> GHandler sub master a
+class Monad (YesodPersistBackend site (HandlerT site IO)) => YesodPersist site where
+    type YesodPersistBackend site :: (* -> *) -> * -> *
+    runDB :: YesodDB site a -> HandlerT site IO a
 
+-- | Helper for creating 'runDB'.
+--
+-- Since 1.2.0
+defaultRunDB :: PersistConfig c
+             => (site -> c)
+             -> (site -> PersistConfigPool c)
+             -> PersistConfigBackend c (HandlerT site IO) a
+             -> HandlerT site IO a
+defaultRunDB getConfig getPool f = do
+    master <- getYesod
+    Database.Persist.runPool
+        (getConfig master)
+        f
+        (getPool master)
+
+-- |
+--
+-- Since 1.2.0
+class YesodPersist site => YesodPersistRunner site where
+    -- | This function differs from 'runDB' in that it returns a database
+    -- runner function, as opposed to simply running a single action. This will
+    -- usually mean that a connection is taken from a pool and then reused for
+    -- each invocation. This can be useful for creating streaming responses;
+    -- see 'runDBSource'.
+    --
+    -- It additionally returns a cleanup function to free the connection.  If
+    -- your code finishes successfully, you /must/ call this cleanup to
+    -- indicate changes should be committed. Otherwise, for SQL backends at
+    -- least, a rollback will be used instead.
+    --
+    -- Since 1.2.0
+    getDBRunner :: HandlerT site IO (DBRunner site, HandlerT site IO ())
+
+newtype DBRunner site = DBRunner
+    { runDBRunner :: forall a. YesodDB site a -> HandlerT site IO a
+    }
+
+-- | Helper for implementing 'getDBRunner'.
+--
+-- Since 1.2.0
+defaultGetDBRunner :: YesodPersistBackend site ~ SqlPersistT
+                   => (site -> Pool SQL.Connection)
+                   -> HandlerT site IO (DBRunner site, HandlerT site IO ())
+defaultGetDBRunner getPool = do
+    ididSucceed <- newIORef False
+
+    pool <- fmap getPool getYesod
+    managedConn <- takeResource pool
+    let conn = mrValue managedConn
+
+    let withPrep f = f conn (SQL.connPrepare conn)
+    (finishTransaction, ()) <- allocate (withPrep SQL.connBegin) $ \() -> do
+        didSucceed <- readIORef ididSucceed
+        withPrep $ if didSucceed
+            then SQL.connCommit
+            else SQL.connRollback
+
+    let cleanup = do
+            writeIORef ididSucceed True
+            release finishTransaction
+            mrReuse managedConn True
+            mrRelease managedConn
+
+    return (DBRunner $ \x -> runReaderT (unSqlPersistT x) conn, cleanup)
+
+-- | Like 'runDB', but transforms a @Source@. See 'respondSourceDB' for an
+-- example, practical use case.
+--
+-- Since 1.2.0
+runDBSource :: YesodPersistRunner site
+            => Source (YesodDB site) a
+            -> Source (HandlerT site IO) a
+runDBSource src = do
+    (dbrunner, cleanup) <- lift getDBRunner
+    transPipe (runDBRunner dbrunner) src
+    lift cleanup
+
+-- | Extends 'respondSource' to create a streaming database response body.
+respondSourceDB :: YesodPersistRunner site
+                => ContentType
+                -> Source (YesodDB site) (Flush Builder)
+                -> HandlerT site IO TypedContent
+respondSourceDB ctype = respondSource ctype . runDBSource
+
 -- | Get the given entity by ID, or return a 404 not found if it doesn't exist.
-#if MIN_VERSION_persistent(1, 1, 0)
 get404 :: ( PersistStore (t m)
           , PersistEntity val
           , Monad (t m)
-          , m ~ GHandler sub master
+          , m ~ HandlerT site IO
           , MonadTrans t
           , PersistMonadBackend (t m) ~ PersistEntityBackend val
           )
        => Key val -> t m val
-#else
-get404 :: ( PersistStore b m
-          , PersistEntity val
-          , Monad (b m)
-          , m ~ GHandler sub master
-          , MonadTrans b
-          )
-       => Key b val -> b m val
-#endif
 get404 key = do
     mres <- get key
     case mres of
@@ -49,27 +137,22 @@
 
 -- | Get the given entity by unique key, or return a 404 not found if it doesn't
 --   exist.
-#if MIN_VERSION_persistent(1, 1, 0)
 getBy404 :: ( PersistUnique (t m)
             , PersistEntity val
-            , m ~ GHandler sub master
+            , m ~ HandlerT site IO
             , Monad (t m)
             , MonadTrans t
             , PersistEntityBackend val ~ PersistMonadBackend (t m)
             )
          => Unique val -> t m (Entity val)
-#else
-getBy404 :: ( PersistUnique b m
-            , PersistEntity val
-            , m ~ GHandler sub master
-            , Monad (b m)
-            , MonadTrans b
-            , PersistEntityBackend val ~ b
-            )
-         => Unique val b -> b m (Entity val)
-#endif
 getBy404 key = do
     mres <- getBy key
     case mres of
         Nothing -> lift notFound
         Just res -> return res
+
+instance MonadHandler m => MonadHandler (SqlPersistT m) where
+    type HandlerSite (SqlPersistT m) = HandlerSite m
+    liftHandlerT = lift . liftHandlerT
+instance MonadWidget m => MonadWidget (SqlPersistT m) where
+    liftWidgetT = lift . liftWidgetT
diff --git a/test/Spec.hs b/test/Spec.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Spec.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,1 @@
+{-# OPTIONS_GHC -F -pgmF hspec-discover #-}
diff --git a/test/Yesod/PersistSpec.hs b/test/Yesod/PersistSpec.hs
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Yesod/PersistSpec.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings, TemplateHaskell, QuasiQuotes, TypeFamilies #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE EmptyDataDecls, FlexibleContexts, GADTs #-}
+module Yesod.PersistSpec where
+
+import Test.Hspec
+import Database.Persist.Sqlite
+import Network.Wai.Test
+import Yesod.Core
+import Data.Conduit
+import Blaze.ByteString.Builder.Char.Utf8 (fromText)
+import Yesod.Persist
+import Data.Text (Text)
+
+share [mkPersist sqlSettings, mkMigrate "migrateAll"] [persistLowerCase|
+Person
+    name Text
+|]
+
+data App = App
+    { appConfig :: SqliteConf
+    , appPool   :: ConnectionPool
+    }
+
+mkYesod "App" [parseRoutes|
+/ HomeR GET
+|]
+
+instance Yesod App
+instance YesodPersist App where
+    type YesodPersistBackend App = SqlPersistT
+    runDB = defaultRunDB appConfig appPool
+instance YesodPersistRunner App where
+    getDBRunner = defaultGetDBRunner appPool
+
+getHomeR :: Handler TypedContent
+getHomeR = do
+    runDB $ do
+        runMigration migrateAll
+        deleteWhere ([] :: [Filter Person])
+        insert_ $ Person "Charlie"
+        insert_ $ Person "Alice"
+        insert_ $ Person "Bob"
+    respondSourceDB typePlain $ selectSource [] [Asc PersonName] $= awaitForever toBuilder
+  where
+    toBuilder (Entity _ (Person name)) = do
+        yield $ Chunk $ fromText name
+        yield $ Chunk $ fromText "\n"
+        yield Flush
+
+test :: String -> Session () -> Spec
+test name session = it name $ do
+    let config = SqliteConf ":memory:" 1
+    pool <- createPoolConfig config
+    app <- toWaiApp $ App config pool
+    runSession session app
+
+spec :: Spec
+spec = test "streaming" $ do
+    sres <- request defaultRequest
+    assertBody "Alice\nBob\nCharlie\n" sres
+    assertStatus 200 sres
diff --git a/yesod-persistent.cabal b/yesod-persistent.cabal
--- a/yesod-persistent.cabal
+++ b/yesod-persistent.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:            yesod-persistent
-version:         1.1.0.1
+version:         1.2.0
 license:         MIT
 license-file:    LICENSE
 author:          Michael Snoyman <michael@snoyman.com>
@@ -7,19 +7,40 @@
 synopsis:        Some helpers for using Persistent from Yesod.
 category:        Web, Yesod, Database
 stability:       Stable
-cabal-version:   >= 1.6
+cabal-version:   >= 1.8
 build-type:      Simple
 homepage:        http://www.yesodweb.com/
 description:     Some helpers for using Persistent from Yesod.
 
 library
     build-depends:   base                      >= 4        && < 5
-                   , yesod-core                >= 1.1      && < 1.2
-                   , persistent                >= 1.0      && < 1.2
-                   , persistent-template       >= 1.0      && < 1.2
+                   , yesod-core                >= 1.2      && < 1.3
+                   , persistent                >= 1.2      && < 1.3
+                   , persistent-template       >= 1.2      && < 1.3
                    , transformers              >= 0.2.2    && < 0.4
+                   , blaze-builder
+                   , conduit
+                   , lifted-base
+                   , pool-conduit
+                   , resourcet
     exposed-modules: Yesod.Persist
     ghc-options:     -Wall
+
+test-suite test
+    type: exitcode-stdio-1.0
+    main-is: Spec.hs
+    hs-source-dirs: test
+    other-modules: Yesod.PersistSpec
+    build-depends: base
+                 , hspec
+                 , wai-test
+                 , yesod-core
+                 , persistent-sqlite
+                 , yesod-persistent
+                 , conduit
+                 , blaze-builder
+                 , persistent
+                 , text
 
 source-repository head
   type:     git