diff --git a/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java b/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
index b861cce886..36215718ce 100644
--- a/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
+++ b/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
 import rx.operators.OperationTakeLast;
 import rx.operators.OperationTakeUntil;
 import rx.operators.OperationTakeWhile;
+import rx.operators.OperationToFuture;
 import rx.operators.OperationToIterator;
 import rx.operators.OperationToObservableFuture;
 import rx.operators.OperationToObservableIterable;
@@ -2066,6 +2067,19 @@ public Boolean call(T t, Integer integer)
         }));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Return a Future representing a single value of the Observable.
+     * <p>
+     * This will throw an exception if the Observable emits more than 1 value. If more than 1 are expected then use <code>toList().toFuture()</code>.
+     * 
+     * @param that
+     *            the source Observable
+     * @returna Future that expects a single item emitted by the source Observable
+     */
+    public static <T> Future<T> toFuture(final Observable<T> that) {
+        return OperationToFuture.toFuture(that);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns an Observable that emits a single item, a list composed of all the items emitted by
      * the source Observable.
@@ -3473,6 +3487,17 @@ public <E> Observable<T> takeUntil(Observable<E> other) {
         return takeUntil(this, other);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Return a Future representing a single value of the Observable.
+     * <p>
+     * This will throw an exception if the Observable emits more than 1 value. If more than 1 are expected then use <code>toList().toFuture()</code>.
+     * 
+     * @returna Future that expects a single item emitted by the source Observable
+     */
+    public Future<T> toFuture() {
+        return toFuture(this);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns an Observable that emits a single item, a list composed of all the items emitted by
      * the source Observable.
diff --git a/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/operators/OperationToFuture.java b/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/operators/OperationToFuture.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..89b2bc294e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rxjava-core/src/main/java/rx/operators/OperationToFuture.java
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+package rx.operators;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+import java.util.concurrent.Future;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import rx.Observable;
+import rx.Observer;
+import rx.Subscription;
+import rx.subscriptions.Subscriptions;
+import rx.util.functions.Func1;
+
+/**
+ * Convert an Observable into a Future.
+ */
+public class OperationToFuture {
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a Future that expects a single item from the observable.
+     * 
+     * @param that
+     *            an observable sequence to get a Future for.
+     * @param <T>
+     *            the type of source.
+     * @return the Future to retrieve a single elements from an Observable
+     */
+    public static <T> Future<T> toFuture(Observable<T> that) {
+
+        final CountDownLatch finished = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        final AtomicReference<T> value = new AtomicReference<T>();
+        final AtomicReference<Exception> error = new AtomicReference<Exception>();
+
+        final Subscription s = that.subscribe(new Observer<T>() {
+
+            @Override
+            public void onCompleted() {
+                finished.countDown();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onError(Exception e) {
+                error.compareAndSet(null, e);
+                finished.countDown();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void onNext(T v) {
+                if (!value.compareAndSet(null, v)) {
+                    // this means we received more than one value and must fail as a Future can handle only a single value
+                    error.compareAndSet(null, new IllegalStateException("Observable.toFuture() only supports sequences with a single value. Use .toList().toFuture() if multiple values are expected."));
+                    finished.countDown();
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
+        return new Future<T>() {
+
+            private volatile boolean cancelled = false;
+
+            @Override
+            public boolean cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning) {
+                if (finished.getCount() > 0) {
+                    cancelled = true;
+                    s.unsubscribe();
+                    // release the latch (a race condition may have already released it by now)
+                    finished.countDown();
+                    return true;
+                } else {
+                    // can't cancel
+                    return false;
+                }
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public boolean isCancelled() {
+                return cancelled;
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public boolean isDone() {
+                return finished.getCount() == 0;
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public T get() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {
+                finished.await();
+                return getValue();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public T get(long timeout, TimeUnit unit) throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException {
+                if (finished.await(timeout, unit)) {
+                    return getValue();
+                } else {
+                    throw new TimeoutException("Timed out after " + unit.toMillis(timeout) + "ms waiting for underlying Observable.");
+                }
+            }
+
+            private T getValue() throws ExecutionException {
+                if (error.get() != null) {
+                    throw new ExecutionException("Observable onError", error.get());
+                } else {
+                    return value.get();
+                }
+            }
+
+        };
+
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testToFuture() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {
+        Observable<String> obs = Observable.toObservable("one");
+        Future<String> f = toFuture(obs);
+        assertEquals("one", f.get());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testToFutureList() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {
+        Observable<String> obs = Observable.toObservable("one", "two", "three");
+        Future<List<String>> f = toFuture(obs.toList());
+        assertEquals("one", f.get().get(0));
+        assertEquals("two", f.get().get(1));
+        assertEquals("three", f.get().get(2));
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = ExecutionException.class)
+    public void testExceptionWithMoreThanOneElement() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {
+        Observable<String> obs = Observable.toObservable("one", "two");
+        Future<String> f = toFuture(obs);
+        assertEquals("one", f.get());
+        // we expect an exception since there are more than 1 element
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testToFutureWithException() {
+        Observable<String> obs = Observable.create(new Func1<Observer<String>, Subscription>() {
+
+            @Override
+            public Subscription call(Observer<String> observer) {
+                observer.onNext("one");
+                observer.onError(new TestException());
+                return Subscriptions.empty();
+            }
+        });
+
+        Future<String> f = toFuture(obs);
+        try {
+            f.get();
+            fail("expected exception");
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            assertEquals(TestException.class, e.getCause().getClass());
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static class TestException extends RuntimeException {
+        private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+    }
+}