diff --git a/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/main/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError.java b/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/main/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..321f463f96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/main/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2016 Square, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package retrofit2.adapter.rxjava;
+
+import retrofit2.Response;
+import rx.Observable;
+import rx.Observable.Operator;
+import rx.Subscriber;
+import rx.functions.Func1;
+
+/**
+ * A version of {@link Observable#map(Func1)} which lets us trigger {@code onError} without having
+ * to use {@link Observable#flatMap(Func1)} which breaks producer requests from propagating.
+ */
+final class OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError<T> implements Operator<T, Response<T>> {
+  private static final OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError<Object> INSTANCE =
+      new OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError<>();
+
+  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") // Safe because of erasure.
+  static <R> OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError<R> instance() {
+    return (OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError<R>) INSTANCE;
+  }
+
+  @Override public Subscriber<? super Response<T>> call(final Subscriber<? super T> child) {
+    return new Subscriber<Response<T>>(child) {
+      @Override public void onNext(Response<T> response) {
+        if (response.isSuccessful()) {
+          child.onNext(response.body());
+        } else {
+          child.onError(new HttpException(response));
+        }
+      }
+
+      @Override public void onCompleted() {
+        child.onCompleted();
+      }
+
+      @Override public void onError(Throwable e) {
+        child.onError(e);
+      }
+    };
+  }
+}
diff --git a/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/main/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/RxJavaCallAdapterFactory.java b/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/main/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/RxJavaCallAdapterFactory.java
index aa135e6c45..43a2105e2c 100644
--- a/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/main/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/RxJavaCallAdapterFactory.java
+++ b/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/main/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/RxJavaCallAdapterFactory.java
@@ -18,11 +18,13 @@
 import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
 import java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType;
 import java.lang.reflect.Type;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import retrofit2.Call;
 import retrofit2.CallAdapter;
 import retrofit2.Response;
 import retrofit2.Retrofit;
 import rx.Observable;
+import rx.Producer;
 import rx.Scheduler;
 import rx.Subscriber;
 import rx.exceptions.Exceptions;
@@ -131,14 +133,28 @@ static final class CallOnSubscribe<T> implements Observable.OnSubscribe<Response
 
     @Override public void call(final Subscriber<? super Response<T>> subscriber) {
       // Since Call is a one-shot type, clone it for each new subscriber.
-      final Call<T> call = originalCall.clone();
+      Call<T> call = originalCall.clone();
 
-      // Attempt to cancel the call if it is still in-flight on unsubscription.
-      subscriber.add(Subscriptions.create(new Action0() {
-        @Override public void call() {
-          call.cancel();
-        }
-      }));
+      // Wrap the call in a helper which handles both unsubscription and backpressure.
+      RequestArbiter<T> requestArbiter = new RequestArbiter<>(call, subscriber);
+      subscriber.add(Subscriptions.create(requestArbiter));
+      subscriber.setProducer(requestArbiter);
+    }
+  }
+
+  static final class RequestArbiter<T> extends AtomicBoolean implements Action0, Producer {
+    private final Call<T> call;
+    private final Subscriber<? super Response<T>> subscriber;
+
+    RequestArbiter(Call<T> call, Subscriber<? super Response<T>> subscriber) {
+      this.call = call;
+      this.subscriber = subscriber;
+    }
+
+    @Override public void request(long n) {
+      if (n < 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("n < 0: " + n);
+      if (n == 0) return; // Nothing to do when requesting 0.
+      if (!compareAndSet(false, true)) return; // Request was already triggered.
 
       try {
         Response<T> response = call.execute();
@@ -157,6 +173,10 @@ static final class CallOnSubscribe<T> implements Observable.OnSubscribe<Response
         subscriber.onCompleted();
       }
     }
+
+    @Override public void call() {
+      call.cancel();
+    }
   }
 
   static final class ResponseCallAdapter implements CallAdapter<Observable<?>> {
@@ -196,14 +216,7 @@ static final class SimpleCallAdapter implements CallAdapter<Observable<?>> {
 
     @Override public <R> Observable<R> adapt(Call<R> call) {
       Observable<R> observable = Observable.create(new CallOnSubscribe<>(call)) //
-          .flatMap(new Func1<Response<R>, Observable<R>>() {
-            @Override public Observable<R> call(Response<R> response) {
-              if (response.isSuccessful()) {
-                return Observable.just(response.body());
-              }
-              return Observable.error(new HttpException(response));
-            }
-          });
+          .lift(OperatorMapResponseToBodyOrError.<R>instance());
       if (scheduler != null) {
         return observable.subscribeOn(scheduler);
       }
diff --git a/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/test/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/ObservableTest.java b/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/test/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/ObservableTest.java
index a854f63bd1..f3e05adea5 100644
--- a/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/test/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/ObservableTest.java
+++ b/retrofit-adapters/rxjava/src/test/java/retrofit2/adapter/rxjava/ObservableTest.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import retrofit2.http.GET;
 import rx.Observable;
 import rx.observables.BlockingObservable;
+import rx.observers.TestSubscriber;
 
 import static okhttp3.mockwebserver.SocketPolicy.DISCONNECT_AFTER_REQUEST;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@@ -83,6 +84,22 @@ interface Service {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test public void bodyRespectsBackpressure() {
+    server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setBody("Hi"));
+
+    TestSubscriber<String> subscriber = new TestSubscriber<>(0);
+    Observable<String> o = service.body();
+
+    o.subscribe(subscriber);
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(0);
+
+    subscriber.requestMore(1);
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(1);
+
+    subscriber.requestMore(Long.MAX_VALUE); // Subsequent requests do not trigger HTTP requests.
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(1);
+  }
+
   @Test public void responseSuccess200() {
     server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setBody("Hi"));
 
@@ -113,6 +130,22 @@ interface Service {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test public void responseRespectsBackpressure() {
+    server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setBody("Hi"));
+
+    TestSubscriber<Response<String>> subscriber = new TestSubscriber<>(0);
+    Observable<Response<String>> o = service.response();
+
+    o.subscribe(subscriber);
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(0);
+
+    subscriber.requestMore(1);
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(1);
+
+    subscriber.requestMore(Long.MAX_VALUE); // Subsequent requests do not trigger HTTP requests.
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(1);
+  }
+
   @Test public void resultSuccess200() {
     server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setBody("Hi"));
 
@@ -143,4 +176,20 @@ interface Service {
     assertThat(result.isError()).isTrue();
     assertThat(result.error()).isInstanceOf(IOException.class);
   }
+
+  @Test public void resultRespectsBackpressure() {
+    server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setBody("Hi"));
+
+    TestSubscriber<Result<String>> subscriber = new TestSubscriber<>(0);
+    Observable<Result<String>> o = service.result();
+
+    o.subscribe(subscriber);
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(0);
+
+    subscriber.requestMore(1);
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(1);
+
+    subscriber.requestMore(Long.MAX_VALUE); // Subsequent requests do not trigger HTTP requests.
+    assertThat(server.getRequestCount()).isEqualTo(1);
+  }
 }