diff --git a/influxql/ast.go b/influxql/ast.go
index 337ebbc444a..ff2f78750f3 100644
--- a/influxql/ast.go
+++ b/influxql/ast.go
@@ -642,7 +642,9 @@ type SelectStatement struct {
 	FillValue interface{}
 }
 
-func (s *SelectStatement) IsNonNestedDerivative() bool {
+// HasDerivative returns true if one of the field in the statement is a
+// derivative aggregate
+func (s *SelectStatement) HasDerivative() bool {
 	for _, f := range s.Fields {
 		if f.Name() == "derivative" {
 			return true
@@ -651,6 +653,25 @@ func (s *SelectStatement) IsNonNestedDerivative() bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// IsSimpleDerivative return true if a field is a derivative function with a
+// variable ref as the first arg
+func (s *SelectStatement) IsSimpleDerivative() bool {
+	for _, f := range s.Fields {
+		if f.Name() == "derivative" {
+			// cast to derivative call
+			if d, ok := f.Expr.(*Call); ok {
+
+				// it's nested if the first argument is an aggregate function
+				if _, ok := d.Args[0].(*VarRef); ok {
+					return true
+				}
+			}
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // Clone returns a deep copy of the statement.
 func (s *SelectStatement) Clone() *SelectStatement {
 	clone := &SelectStatement{
@@ -893,7 +914,7 @@ func (s *SelectStatement) Validate(tr targetRequirement) error {
 }
 
 func (s *SelectStatement) validateDerivative() error {
-	if !s.IsNonNestedDerivative() {
+	if !s.HasDerivative() {
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/influxql/engine.go b/influxql/engine.go
index 0764cd6d47e..caf18ee282b 100644
--- a/influxql/engine.go
+++ b/influxql/engine.go
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ func (m *MapReduceJob) Execute(out chan *Row, filterEmptyResults bool) {
 	}
 	defer m.Close()
 
-	// if it's a raw query we handle processing differently
-	if m.stmt.IsRawQuery {
+	// if it's a raw query or a non-nested derivative we handle processing differently
+	if m.stmt.IsRawQuery || m.stmt.IsSimpleDerivative() {
 		m.processRawQuery(out, filterEmptyResults)
 		return
 	}
@@ -196,6 +196,9 @@ func (m *MapReduceJob) Execute(out chan *Row, filterEmptyResults bool) {
 	// handle any fill options
 	resultValues = m.processFill(resultValues)
 
+	// process derivatives
+	resultValues = m.processDerivative(resultValues)
+
 	row := &Row{
 		Name:    m.MeasurementName,
 		Tags:    m.TagSet.Tags,
@@ -228,6 +231,7 @@ func (m *MapReduceJob) processRawQuery(out chan *Row, filterEmptyResults bool) {
 	valuesOffset := 0
 	valuesToReturn := make([]*rawQueryMapOutput, 0)
 
+	var lastValueFromPreviousChunk *rawQueryMapOutput
 	// loop until we've emptied out all the mappers and sent everything out
 	for {
 		// collect up to the limit for each mapper
@@ -324,6 +328,10 @@ func (m *MapReduceJob) processRawQuery(out chan *Row, filterEmptyResults bool) {
 		// hit the chunk size? Send out what has been accumulated, but keep
 		// processing.
 		if len(valuesToReturn) >= m.chunkSize {
+			lastValueFromPreviousChunk = valuesToReturn[len(valuesToReturn)-1]
+
+			valuesToReturn = m.processRawQueryDerivative(lastValueFromPreviousChunk, valuesToReturn)
+
 			row := m.processRawResults(valuesToReturn)
 			// perform post-processing, such as math.
 			row.Values = m.processResults(row.Values)
@@ -342,6 +350,8 @@ func (m *MapReduceJob) processRawQuery(out chan *Row, filterEmptyResults bool) {
 			out <- m.processRawResults(nil)
 		}
 	} else {
+		valuesToReturn = m.processRawQueryDerivative(lastValueFromPreviousChunk, valuesToReturn)
+
 		row := m.processRawResults(valuesToReturn)
 		// perform post-processing, such as math.
 		row.Values = m.processResults(row.Values)
@@ -349,6 +359,106 @@ func (m *MapReduceJob) processRawQuery(out chan *Row, filterEmptyResults bool) {
 	}
 }
 
+// derivativeInterval returns the time interval for the one (and only) derivative func
+func (m *MapReduceJob) derivativeInterval() time.Duration {
+	return m.stmt.FunctionCalls()[0].Args[1].(*DurationLiteral).Val
+}
+
+func (m *MapReduceJob) processRawQueryDerivative(lastValueFromPreviousChunk *rawQueryMapOutput, valuesToReturn []*rawQueryMapOutput) []*rawQueryMapOutput {
+	// If we're called and do not have a derivative aggregate function, then return what was passed in
+	if !m.stmt.HasDerivative() {
+		return valuesToReturn
+	}
+
+	if len(valuesToReturn) == 0 {
+		return valuesToReturn
+	}
+
+	// If we only have 1 value, then the value did not change, so return
+	// a single row w/ 0.0
+	if len(valuesToReturn) == 1 {
+		return []*rawQueryMapOutput{
+			&rawQueryMapOutput{
+				Time:   valuesToReturn[0].Time,
+				Values: 0.0,
+			},
+		}
+	}
+
+	if lastValueFromPreviousChunk == nil {
+		lastValueFromPreviousChunk = valuesToReturn[0]
+	}
+
+	// The duration to normalize the derivative by.  This is so the derivative values
+	// can be expressed as "per second", etc.. within each time segment
+	interval := m.derivativeInterval()
+
+	derivativeValues := make([]*rawQueryMapOutput, len(valuesToReturn)-1)
+	for i := 1; i < len(valuesToReturn); i++ {
+		v := valuesToReturn[i]
+
+		// Calculate the derivate of successive points by dividing the difference
+		// of each value by the elapsed time normalized to the interval
+		diff := v.Values.(float64) - lastValueFromPreviousChunk.Values.(float64)
+		elapsed := v.Time - lastValueFromPreviousChunk.Time
+
+		derivativeValues[i-1] = &rawQueryMapOutput{
+			Time:   v.Time,
+			Values: diff / (float64(elapsed) / float64(interval)),
+		}
+		lastValueFromPreviousChunk = v
+	}
+
+	return derivativeValues
+}
+
+// processDerivative returns the derivatives of the results
+func (m *MapReduceJob) processDerivative(results [][]interface{}) [][]interface{} {
+
+	// Return early if we're not supposed to process the derivatives
+	if !m.stmt.HasDerivative() {
+		return results
+	}
+
+	// Return early if we can't calculate derivatives
+	if len(results) == 0 {
+		return results
+	}
+
+	// If we only have 1 value, then the value did not change, so return
+	// a single row w/ 0.0
+	if len(results) == 1 {
+		return [][]interface{}{
+			[]interface{}{results[0][0], 0.0},
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Otherwise calculate the derivatives as the difference between consequtive
+	// points divided by the elapsed time.  Then normalize to the requested
+	// interval.
+	derivatives := make([][]interface{}, len(results)-1)
+	for i := 1; i < len(results); i++ {
+		prev := results[i-1]
+		cur := results[i]
+
+		if cur[1] == nil || prev[1] == nil {
+			derivatives[i-1] = cur
+			continue
+		}
+
+		elapsed := cur[0].(time.Time).Sub(prev[0].(time.Time))
+		diff := cur[1].(float64) - prev[1].(float64)
+
+		val := []interface{}{
+			cur[0],
+			float64(diff) / (float64(elapsed) / float64(m.derivativeInterval())),
+		}
+		derivatives[i-1] = val
+	}
+
+	return derivatives
+}
+
 // processsResults will apply any math that was specified in the select statement against the passed in results
 func (m *MapReduceJob) processResults(results [][]interface{}) [][]interface{} {
 	hasMath := false
diff --git a/influxql/parser_test.go b/influxql/parser_test.go
index 0bd93fd0609..62add5f9899 100644
--- a/influxql/parser_test.go
+++ b/influxql/parser_test.go
@@ -106,6 +106,18 @@ func TestParser_ParseStatement(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		},
 
+		// SELECT statement
+		{
+			s: `SELECT derivative(field1, 1h) FROM myseries;`,
+			stmt: &influxql.SelectStatement{
+				IsRawQuery: false,
+				Fields: []*influxql.Field{
+					{Expr: &influxql.Call{Name: "derivative", Args: []influxql.Expr{&influxql.VarRef{Val: "field1"}, &influxql.DurationLiteral{Val: time.Hour}}}},
+				},
+				Sources: []influxql.Source{&influxql.Measurement{Name: "myseries"}},
+			},
+		},
+
 		// SELECT statement (lowercase)
 		{
 			s: `select my_field from myseries`,
diff --git a/tx.go b/tx.go
index c087558e1c6..65b08dbcfb0 100644
--- a/tx.go
+++ b/tx.go
@@ -93,13 +93,20 @@ func (tx *tx) CreateMapReduceJobs(stmt *influxql.SelectStatement, tagKeys []stri
 			}
 		}
 
-		// If a numerical aggregate is requested, ensure it is only performed on numeric data.
+		// If a numerical aggregate is requested, ensure it is only performed on numeric data or on a
+		// nested aggregate on numeric data.
 		for _, a := range stmt.FunctionCalls() {
-			lit, ok := a.Args[0].(*influxql.VarRef)
+			// Check for fields like `derivative(mean(value), 1d)`
+			var nested *influxql.Call = a
+			if fn, ok := nested.Args[0].(*influxql.Call); ok {
+				nested = fn
+			}
+
+			lit, ok := nested.Args[0].(*influxql.VarRef)
 			if !ok {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("aggregate call didn't contain a field %s", a.String())
 			}
-			if influxql.IsNumeric(a) {
+			if influxql.IsNumeric(nested) {
 				f := m.FieldByName(lit.Val)
 				if f.Type != influxql.Float && f.Type != influxql.Integer {
 					return nil, fmt.Errorf("aggregate '%s' requires numerical field values. Field '%s' is of type %s",
@@ -348,6 +355,7 @@ func (l *LocalMapper) Begin(c *influxql.Call, startingTime int64, chunkSize int)
 			l.limit = math.MaxUint64
 		}
 	} else {
+		// Check for calls like `derivative(mean(value), 1d)`
 		var nested *influxql.Call = c
 		if fn, ok := c.Args[0].(*influxql.Call); ok {
 			nested = fn