diff --git a/src/cursor/abstract_cursor.ts b/src/cursor/abstract_cursor.ts
index 1a8c858101..d5cc560cb1 100644
--- a/src/cursor/abstract_cursor.ts
+++ b/src/cursor/abstract_cursor.ts
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ export abstract class AbstractCursor extends EventEmitter {
         return done(undefined, true);
       }
 
-      next(this, (err, doc) => {
+      next(this, true, (err, doc) => {
         if (err) return done(err);
 
         if (doc) {
@@ -236,7 +236,23 @@ export abstract class AbstractCursor extends EventEmitter {
         return done(new MongoError('Cursor is exhausted'));
       }
 
-      next(this, done);
+      next(this, true, done);
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Try to get the next available document from the cursor or `null` if an empty batch is returned
+   * @internal
+   */
+  tryNext(): Promise<Document | null>;
+  tryNext(callback: Callback<Document | null>): void;
+  tryNext(callback?: Callback<Document | null>): Promise<Document | null> | void {
+    return maybePromise(callback, done => {
+      if (this[kId] === Long.ZERO) {
+        return done(new MongoError('Cursor is exhausted'));
+      }
+
+      next(this, false, done);
     });
   }
 
@@ -259,7 +275,7 @@ export abstract class AbstractCursor extends EventEmitter {
     return maybePromise(callback, done => {
       const transform = this[kTransform];
       const fetchDocs = () => {
-        next(this, (err, doc) => {
+        next(this, true, (err, doc) => {
           if (err || doc == null) return done(err);
           if (doc == null) return done();
 
@@ -350,7 +366,7 @@ export abstract class AbstractCursor extends EventEmitter {
       const transform = this[kTransform];
       const fetchDocs = () => {
         // NOTE: if we add a `nextBatch` then we should use it here
-        next(this, (err, doc) => {
+        next(this, true, (err, doc) => {
           if (err) return done(err);
           if (doc == null) return done(undefined, docs);
 
@@ -518,7 +534,11 @@ function nextDocument(cursor: AbstractCursor): Document | null | undefined {
   return null;
 }
 
-function next(cursor: AbstractCursor, callback: Callback<Document | null>): void {
+function next(
+  cursor: AbstractCursor,
+  blocking: boolean,
+  callback: Callback<Document | null>
+): void {
   const cursorId = cursor[kId];
   if (cursor.closed) {
     return callback(undefined, null);
@@ -577,7 +597,7 @@ function next(cursor: AbstractCursor, callback: Callback<Document | null>): void
         return cleanupCursor(cursor, () => callback(err, nextDocument(cursor)));
       }
 
-      next(cursor, callback);
+      next(cursor, blocking, callback);
     });
 
     return;
@@ -604,7 +624,11 @@ function next(cursor: AbstractCursor, callback: Callback<Document | null>): void
       return cleanupCursor(cursor, () => callback(err, nextDocument(cursor)));
     }
 
-    next(cursor, callback);
+    if (cursor[kDocuments].length === 0 && blocking === false) {
+      return callback(undefined, null);
+    }
+
+    next(cursor, blocking, callback);
   });
 }
 
@@ -666,7 +690,7 @@ function makeCursorStream(cursor: AbstractCursor) {
 
   function readNext() {
     needToClose = false;
-    next(cursor, (err, result) => {
+    next(cursor, true, (err, result) => {
       needToClose = err ? !cursor.closed : result !== null;
 
       if (err) {
diff --git a/test/functional/abstract_cursor.test.js b/test/functional/abstract_cursor.test.js
index 52230215b8..61fccc91d6 100644
--- a/test/functional/abstract_cursor.test.js
+++ b/test/functional/abstract_cursor.test.js
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ describe('AbstractCursor', function () {
     withClientV2((client, done) => {
       const docs = [{ a: 1 }, { a: 2 }, { a: 3 }, { a: 4 }, { a: 5 }, { a: 6 }];
       const coll = client.db().collection('find_cursor');
-      coll.drop(() => coll.insertMany(docs, done));
+      const tryNextColl = client.db().collection('try_next');
+      coll.drop(() => tryNextColl.drop(() => coll.insertMany(docs, done)));
     })
   );
 
@@ -124,4 +125,38 @@ describe('AbstractCursor', function () {
       })
     );
   });
+
+  context('#tryNext', function () {
+    it(
+      'should return control to the user if an empty batch is returned',
+      withClientV2(function (client, done) {
+        const db = client.db();
+        db.createCollection('try_next', { capped: true, size: 10000000 }, () => {
+          const coll = db.collection('try_next');
+          coll.insertMany([{}, {}], err => {
+            expect(err).to.not.exist;
+
+            const cursor = coll.find({}, { tailable: true, awaitData: true });
+            this.defer(() => cursor.close());
+
+            cursor.tryNext((err, doc) => {
+              expect(err).to.not.exist;
+              expect(doc).to.exist;
+
+              cursor.tryNext((err, doc) => {
+                expect(err).to.not.exist;
+                expect(doc).to.exist;
+
+                cursor.tryNext((err, doc) => {
+                  expect(err).to.not.exist;
+                  expect(doc).to.be.null;
+                  done();
+                });
+              });
+            });
+          });
+        });
+      })
+    );
+  });
 });