diff --git a/views_field_view_handler_field_view.inc b/views_field_view_handler_field_view.inc
index b41ffb5..d7adb8d 100644
--- a/views_field_view_handler_field_view.inc
+++ b/views_field_view_handler_field_view.inc
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ class views_field_view_handler_field_view extends views_handler_field {
     $options['display'] = array('default' => 'default');
     $options['arguments'] = array('default' => '');
     $options['query_aggregation'] = array('default' => FALSE, 'bool' => TRUE);
+    $options['first_field_value'] = array('default' => FALSE, 'bool' => TRUE);
 
     return $options;
   }
@@ -163,7 +164,8 @@ class views_field_view_handler_field_view extends views_handler_field {
         '#fieldset' => 'views_field_view',
       );
 
-      // It doesn't make sense to allow aggregation unless it's a field handler.
+      // It doesn't make sense to allow aggregation or field value fetching
+      // unless it's a field handler.
       if (($this->handler_type == 'field')) {
         $form['query_aggregation'] = array(
           '#title' => t('Aggregate queries'),
@@ -175,6 +177,14 @@ class views_field_view_handler_field_view extends views_handler_field {
           '#default_value' => $this->options['query_aggregation'],
           '#fieldset' => 'views_field_view',
         );
+
+        $form['first_field_value'] = array(
+          '#title' => t('Fetch value of first field of first row'),
+          '#description' => t('This fetches the value of the first field of the first row in the view. The value is not rendered (except for basic HTML filtered) so can be useful for calculations, especially involving count/sum queries.'),
+          '#type' => 'checkbox',
+          '#default_value' => $this->options['first_field_value'],
+          '#fieldset' => 'views_field_view',
+        );
       }
 
       // Ensure we're working with a SQL view.
@@ -406,12 +416,17 @@ class views_field_view_handler_field_view extends views_handler_field {
           $view->pre_execute($args);
           $view->execute();
 
-          // If there are no results and hide_empty is set.
           if (empty($view->result) && $this->options['hide_empty']) {
+            // If there are no results and hide_empty is set.
             $output = '';
           }
-          // Else just call render on the view object.
+          else if ($this->options['first_field_value']) {
+            // Fetch the value of the first field of the first row.
+            $first_row = (array)$view->result[0];
+            $output = check_plain(reset($first_row));
+          }
           else {
+            // Else just call render on the view object.
             $output = $view->render();
           }
         }