diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/live.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/live.rb
index efeeefda9d..48818cb8e4 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/live.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal/live.rb
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@ module ActionController
     class Response < ActionDispatch::Response
       class Buffer < ActionDispatch::Response::Buffer # :nodoc:
         def initialize(response)
-          @response = response
-          @buf      = Queue.new
+          super(response, Queue.new)
         end
 
         def write(string)
@@ -59,5 +58,30 @@ module ActionController
         buf
       end
     end
+
+    def process(name)
+      t1 = Thread.current
+      locals = t1.keys.map { |key| [key, t1[key]] }
+
+      # This processes the action in a child thread.  It lets us return the
+      # response code and headers back up the rack stack, and still process
+      # the body in parallel with sending data to the client
+      Thread.new {
+        t2 = Thread.current
+        t2.abort_on_exception = true
+
+        # Since we're processing the view in a different thread, copy the
+        # thread locals from the main thread to the child thread. :'(
+        locals.each { |k,v| t2[k] = v }
+
+        begin
+          super(name)
+        ensure
+          @_response.commit!
+        end
+      }
+
+      @_response.await_commit
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/test_case.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/test_case.rb
index c4c825ba6b..ca1ecc43a1 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/test_case.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/test_case.rb
@@ -517,8 +517,8 @@ module ActionController
       end
 
       def setup_controller_request_and_response
-        @request          = TestRequest.new
-        @response         = TestResponse.new
+        @request          = build_request
+        @response         = build_response
         @response.request = @request
 
         @controller = nil unless defined? @controller
@@ -539,6 +539,14 @@ module ActionController
         end
       end
 
+      def build_request
+        TestRequest.new
+      end
+
+      def build_response
+        TestResponse.new
+      end
+
       included do
         include ActionController::TemplateAssertions
         include ActionDispatch::Assertions
diff --git a/actionpack/test/controller/live_stream_test.rb b/actionpack/test/controller/live_stream_test.rb
index 6ee6444065..5bb37a271d 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/controller/live_stream_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/controller/live_stream_test.rb
@@ -1,16 +1,41 @@
 require 'abstract_unit'
+require 'active_support/concurrency/latch'
 
 module ActionController
-  class StreamingResponseTest < ActionController::TestCase
+  class LiveStreamTest < ActionController::TestCase
     class TestController < ActionController::Base
+      include ActionController::Live
+
+      attr_accessor :latch, :tc
+
       def self.controller_path
         'test'
       end
 
       def basic_stream
+        response.headers['Content-Type'] = 'text/event-stream'
+        %w{ hello world }.each do |word|
+          response.stream.write word
+        end
+        response.stream.close
+      end
+
+      def blocking_stream
+        response.headers['Content-Type'] = 'text/event-stream'
+        %w{ hello world }.each do |word|
+          response.stream.write word
+          latch.await
+        end
+        response.stream.close
+      end
+
+      def thread_locals
+        tc.assert_equal 'aaron', Thread.current[:setting]
+        tc.refute_equal Thread.current.object_id, Thread.current[:originating_thread]
+
+        response.headers['Content-Type'] = 'text/event-stream'
         %w{ hello world }.each do |word|
           response.stream.write word
-          response.stream.write "\n"
         end
         response.stream.close
       end
@@ -18,9 +43,50 @@ module ActionController
 
     tests TestController
 
+    class TestResponse < Live::Response
+      def recycle!
+        initialize
+      end
+    end
+
+    def build_response
+      TestResponse.new
+    end
+
     def test_write_to_stream
+      @controller = TestController.new
       get :basic_stream
-      assert_equal "hello\nworld\n", @response.body
+      assert_equal "helloworld", @response.body
+      assert_equal 'text/event-stream', @response.headers['Content-Type']
+    end
+
+    def test_async_stream
+      @controller.latch = ActiveSupport::Concurrency::Latch.new
+      parts             = ['hello', 'world']
+
+      @controller.request  = @request
+      @controller.response = @response
+
+      t = Thread.new(@response) { |resp|
+        resp.stream.each do |part|
+          assert_equal parts.shift, part
+          ol = @controller.latch
+          @controller.latch = ActiveSupport::Concurrency::Latch.new
+          ol.release
+        end
+      }
+
+      @controller.process :blocking_stream
+
+      assert t.join
+    end
+
+    def test_thread_locals_get_copied
+      @controller.tc = self
+      Thread.current[:originating_thread] = Thread.current.object_id
+      Thread.current[:setting]            = 'aaron'
+
+      get :thread_locals
     end
   end
 end