diff --git a/lib/geocoder/stores/active_record.rb b/lib/geocoder/stores/active_record.rb
index 6d93db11aed629af9a1320677b8612203da6ef3f..3d8af3939453fbbacdf4f9e4a4ae4618efc1fd8e 100644
--- a/lib/geocoder/stores/active_record.rb
+++ b/lib/geocoder/stores/active_record.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 require 'geocoder/sql'
 require 'geocoder/stores/base'
 
@@ -93,13 +94,17 @@ module Geocoder::Store
       #   between the given point and each found nearby point;
       #   set to false for no bearing calculation. Use
       #   Geocoder.configure[:distances] to configure default calculation method.
-      # * +:select+  - string with the SELECT SQL fragment (e.g. “id, name”)
-      # * +:order+   - column(s) for ORDER BY SQL clause; default is distance;
-      #                set to false or nil to omit the ORDER BY clause
-      # * +:exclude+ - an object to exclude (used by the +nearbys+ method)
+      # * +:select+          - string with the SELECT SQL fragment (e.g. “id, name”)
+      # * +:select_distance+ - whether to include the distance alias in the
+      #                        SELECT SQL fragment (e.g. <formula> AS distance)
+      # * +:order+           - column(s) for ORDER BY SQL clause; default is distance;
+      #                        set to false or nil to omit the ORDER BY clause
+      # * +:exclude+         - an object to exclude (used by the +nearbys+ method)
       #
       def near_scope_options(latitude, longitude, radius = 20, options = {})
         options[:units] ||= (geocoder_options[:units] || Geocoder.config.units)
+        select_distance = options.fetch(:select_distance, true)
+        options[:order] = "" if !select_distance && !options.include?(:order)
         bearing = bearing_sql(latitude, longitude, options)
         distance = distance_sql(latitude, longitude, options)
 
@@ -116,7 +121,9 @@ module Geocoder::Store
           conditions = [bounding_box_conditions + " AND #{distance} <= ?", radius]
         end
         {
-          :select => select_clause(options[:select], distance, bearing),
+          :select => select_clause(options[:select],
+                                   select_distance ? distance : nil,
+                                   bearing),
           :conditions => add_exclude_condition(conditions, options[:exclude]),
           :order => options.include?(:order) ? options[:order] : "distance ASC"
         }
@@ -166,9 +173,13 @@ module Geocoder::Store
         elsif columns == :geo_only
           clause = ""
         else
-          clause = (columns || full_column_name("*")) + ", "
+          clause = (columns || full_column_name("*"))
         end
-        clause + "#{distance} AS distance" +
+        if distance
+          clause += ", " unless clause.empty?
+          clause += "#{distance} AS distance"
+        end
+        clause +
           (bearing ? ", #{bearing} AS bearing" : "")
       end
 
@@ -241,4 +252,3 @@ module Geocoder::Store
     alias_method :fetch_address, :reverse_geocode
   end
 end
-
diff --git a/test/near_test.rb b/test/near_test.rb
index 359f2011423d0b38d3b83cbbb10eb2bfeed49abe..9bd6a88ca6cf800eef5e486c6f081791cac0b4ee 100644
--- a/test/near_test.rb
+++ b/test/near_test.rb
@@ -8,4 +8,28 @@ class NearTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_match /test_table_name.latitude BETWEEN 0.9276\d* AND 1.0723\d* AND test_table_name.longitude BETWEEN 1.9276\d* AND 2.0723\d* AND /,
       result[:conditions][0]
   end
+
+  def test_near_scope_options_with_defaults
+    result = Event.send(:near_scope_options, 1.0, 2.0, 5)
+
+    assert_match /AS distance/, result[:select]
+    assert_match /AS bearing/, result[:select]
+    assert_no_consecutive_comma(result[:select])
+  end
+
+  def test_near_scope_options_with_no_distance
+    result = Event.send(:near_scope_options, 1.0, 2.0, 5, :select_distance => false)
+
+    assert_no_match /AS distance/, result[:select]
+    assert_match /AS bearing/, result[:select]
+    assert_no_match /distance/, result[:condition]
+    assert_no_match /distance/, result[:order]
+    assert_no_consecutive_comma(result[:select])
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  def assert_no_consecutive_comma(string)
+    assert_no_match /, *,/, string, "two consecutive commas"
+  end
 end