diff --git a/src/middleware/sanitize-query.ts b/src/middleware/sanitize-query.ts
index 2bbebebcc5..3f634909c8 100644
--- a/src/middleware/sanitize-query.ts
+++ b/src/middleware/sanitize-query.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ const sanitizeQuery: RequestHandler = (req, res, next) => {
 		query.offset = sanitizeOffset(req.query.offset);
 	}
 
+	if (req.query.single) {
+		query.single = sanitizeSingle(req.query.single);
+	}
+
 	res.locals.query = query;
 	return next();
 };
@@ -79,3 +83,7 @@ function sanitizeLimit(rawLimit: any) {
 function sanitizeOffset(rawOffset: any) {
 	return Number(rawOffset);
 }
+
+function sanitizeSingle(rawSingle: any) {
+	return true;
+}
diff --git a/src/services/items.ts b/src/services/items.ts
index 514507606d..7d6fb3b201 100644
--- a/src/services/items.ts
+++ b/src/services/items.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export const readItems = async (collection: string, query: Query = {}) => {
 		});
 	}
 
-	if (query.limit) {
+	if (query.limit && !query.offset) {
 		dbQuery.limit(query.limit);
 	}
 
@@ -44,7 +44,17 @@ export const readItems = async (collection: string, query: Query = {}) => {
 		dbQuery.offset(query.offset);
 	}
 
-	return await dbQuery;
+	if (query.single) {
+		dbQuery.limit(1);
+	}
+
+	const records = await dbQuery;
+
+	if (query.single) {
+		return records[0];
+	}
+
+	return records;
 };
 
 export const readItem = async (collection: string, pk: number | string, query: Query = {}) => {
diff --git a/src/types/query.ts b/src/types/query.ts
index fc032cdaed..b4dd1fc904 100644
--- a/src/types/query.ts
+++ b/src/types/query.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export type Query = {
 	limit?: number;
 	offset?: number;
 	page?: number;
+	single?: boolean;
 };
 
 export type Sort = {