diff --git a/lib/couchrest/mixins/design_doc.rb b/lib/couchrest/mixins/design_doc.rb
index 0a05bdd..4f016ed 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/mixins/design_doc.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/mixins/design_doc.rb
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ module CouchRest
         def design_doc_slug
           return design_doc_slug_cache if (design_doc_slug_cache && design_doc_fresh)
           funcs = []
+          design_doc ||= Design.new(default_design_doc)
           design_doc['views'].each do |name, view|
             funcs << "#{name}/#{view['map']}#{view['reduce']}"
           end
diff --git a/lib/couchrest/mixins/views.rb b/lib/couchrest/mixins/views.rb
index b1bcd1d..afadbfc 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/mixins/views.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/mixins/views.rb
@@ -129,12 +129,11 @@ module CouchRest
         private
 
         def fetch_view_with_docs(name, opts, raw=false, &block)
-          if raw
+          if raw || (opts.has_key?(:include_docs) && opts[:include_docs] == false)
             fetch_view(name, opts, &block)
           else
             begin
-              # auto load mentioned documents unless asked differently (didn't use merge! on a previous line to avoid duping the object)
-              view = fetch_view name, (opts.has_key?(:include_docs) ? opts : opts.merge({:include_docs => true})), &block
+              view = fetch_view name, opts.merge({:include_docs => true}), &block
               view['rows'].collect{|r|new(r['doc'])} if view['rows']
             rescue
               # fallback for old versions of couchdb that don't