diff --git a/packages/mongo-livedata/collection.js b/packages/mongo-livedata/collection.js
index ddf5c3e04a..20d9d8c8a9 100644
--- a/packages/mongo-livedata/collection.js
+++ b/packages/mongo-livedata/collection.js
@@ -163,6 +163,29 @@ _.extend(Meteor.Collection.prototype, {
 });
 
 
+// protect against dangerous selectors.  falsey and {_id: falsey} are both
+// likely programmer error, and not what you want, particularly for destructive
+// operations.  JS regexps don't serialize over DDP but can be trivially
+// replaced by $regex.
+Meteor.Collection._rewriteSelector = function (selector) {
+  // shorthand -- scalars match _id
+  if (LocalCollection._selectorIsId(selector))
+    selector = {_id: selector};
+
+  if (!selector || (('_id' in selector) && !selector._id))
+    // can't match anything
+    return {_id: Meteor.uuid()};
+
+  var ret = {};
+  _.each(selector, function (value, key) {
+    if (value instanceof RegExp)
+      ret[key] = {$regex: value.source};
+    else
+      ret[key] = value;
+  });
+  return ret;
+};
+
 // 'insert' immediately returns the inserted document's new _id.  The
 // others return nothing.
 //
@@ -217,6 +240,8 @@ _.each(["insert", "update", "remove"], function (name) {
       if ('_id' in args[0])
         throw new Error("Do not pass an _id to insert. Meteor will generate the _id for you.");
       ret = args[0]._id = Meteor.uuid();
+    } else {
+      args[0] = Meteor.Collection._rewriteSelector(args[0]);
     }
 
     if (self._manager && self._manager !== Meteor.default_server) {
diff --git a/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_driver.js b/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_driver.js
index de112880b5..07a1ecb1b2 100644
--- a/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_driver.js
+++ b/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_driver.js
@@ -42,21 +42,6 @@ _Mongo = function (url) {
   });
 };
 
-// protect against dangerous selectors.  falsey and {_id: falsey}
-// are both likely programmer error, and not what you want,
-// particularly for destructive operations.
-_Mongo._rewriteSelector = function (selector) {
-  // shorthand -- scalars match _id
-  if ((typeof selector === 'string') || (typeof selector === 'number'))
-    selector = {_id: selector};
-
-  if (!selector || (('_id' in selector) && !selector._id))
-    // can't match anything
-    return {_id: Meteor.uuid()};
-  else
-    return selector;
-};
-
 // callback: lambda (err, collection) called when
 // collection is ready to go, or on error.
 _Mongo.prototype._withCollection = function(collection_name, callback) {
@@ -145,9 +130,6 @@ _Mongo.prototype.remove = function (collection_name, selector) {
 
   var write = self._maybeBeginWrite();
 
-  // XXX does not allow options. matches the client.
-  selector = _Mongo._rewriteSelector(selector);
-
   var future = new Future;
   self._withCollection(collection_name, function (err, collection) {
     if (err) {
@@ -179,7 +161,6 @@ _Mongo.prototype.update = function (collection_name, selector, mod, options) {
 
   var write = self._maybeBeginWrite();
 
-  selector = _Mongo._rewriteSelector(selector);
   if (!options) options = {};
 
   var future = new Future;
@@ -279,7 +260,7 @@ _Mongo.prototype._ensureIndex = function (collectionName, index, options) {
 var CursorDescription = function (collectionName, selector, options) {
   var self = this;
   self.collectionName = collectionName;
-  self.selector = _Mongo._rewriteSelector(selector);
+  self.selector = Meteor.Collection._rewriteSelector(selector);
   self.options = options || {};
 };
 
diff --git a/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_livedata_tests.js b/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_livedata_tests.js
index 0189582920..d1606b077f 100644
--- a/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_livedata_tests.js
+++ b/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_livedata_tests.js
@@ -514,3 +514,51 @@ if (Meteor.isServer) {
     onComplete();
   });
 }
+
+if (Meteor.isServer) {
+  Meteor.methods({
+    createInsecureCollection: function (name) {
+      var c = new Meteor.Collection(name);
+      c._insecure = true;
+      Meteor.publish('c-' + name, function () {
+        return c.find();
+      });
+    }
+  });
+}
+
+testAsyncMulti('mongo-livedata - rewrite selector', [
+  function (test, expect) {
+    var collectionName = Meteor.uuid();
+    if (Meteor.isClient) {
+      Meteor.call('createInsecureCollection', collectionName);
+      Meteor.subscribe('c-' + collectionName);
+    }
+
+    var coll = new Meteor.Collection(collectionName);
+
+    var docId;
+
+    var updateCallback = expect(function (err2) {
+      test.isFalse(err2);
+
+      var doc = coll.findOne(docId);
+      test.isTrue(doc);
+      test.equal(doc.name, "foobar");
+      test.equal(doc.value, 43);
+    });
+
+    coll.insert({name: 'foobar', value: 42}, expect(function (err1, id) {
+      test.isFalse(err1);
+      test.isTrue(id);
+      docId = id;
+
+      var doc = coll.findOne(docId);
+      test.isTrue(doc);
+      test.equal(doc.name, "foobar");
+      test.equal(doc.value, 42);
+
+      coll.update({name: /o+b/}, {$inc: {value: 1}}, updateCallback);
+    }));
+  }
+]);