diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9ec6387..edc4d6d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+# 1.4.0 (Node.js)
+
+## New features
+
+- (Node.js only) The `exec` method now accepts an optional `values` parameter, which allows you to pass the request body as a `Stream.Readable`. This can be useful in case of custom insert streaming with arbitrary ClickHouse data formats (which might not be explicitly supported and allowed by the client in the `insert` method yet). NB: in this case, you are expected to serialize the data in the stream in the required input format yourself.
+
 # 1.3.0 (Common, Node.js, Web)
 
 ## New features
diff --git a/packages/client-common/src/client.ts b/packages/client-common/src/client.ts
index 1935488..60d3ca4 100644
--- a/packages/client-common/src/client.ts
+++ b/packages/client-common/src/client.ts
@@ -61,10 +61,22 @@ export type QueryResult<Stream, Format extends DataFormat> =
     ? BaseResultSet<Stream, unknown>
     : BaseResultSet<Stream, Format>
 
-export interface ExecParams extends BaseQueryParams {
-  /** Statement to execute. */
+export type ExecParams = BaseQueryParams & {
+  /** Statement to execute (including the FORMAT clause). By default, the query will be sent in the request body;
+   *  If {@link ExecParamsWithValues.values} are defined, the query is sent as a request parameter,
+   *  and the values are sent in the request body instead. */
   query: string
 }
+export type ExecParamsWithValues<Stream> = ExecParams & {
+  /** If you have a custom INSERT statement to run with `exec`,
+   *  the data from this stream will be inserted.
+   *
+   *  NB: the data in the stream is expected to be serialized accordingly to the FORMAT clause
+   *  used in {@link ExecParams.query} in this case.
+   *
+   *  @see https://clickhouse.com/docs/en/interfaces/formats */
+  values: Stream
+}
 
 export type CommandParams = ExecParams
 export type CommandResult = { query_id: string } & WithClickHouseSummary &
@@ -214,10 +226,14 @@ export class ClickHouseClient<Stream = unknown> {
    * but format clause is not applicable. The caller of this method is expected to consume the stream,
    * otherwise, the request will eventually be timed out.
    */
-  async exec(params: ExecParams): Promise<ExecResult<Stream>> {
+  async exec(
+    params: ExecParams | ExecParamsWithValues<Stream>,
+  ): Promise<ExecResult<Stream>> {
     const query = removeTrailingSemi(params.query.trim())
+    const values = 'values' in params ? params.values : undefined
     return await this.connection.exec({
       query,
+      values,
       ...this.withClientQueryParams(params),
     })
   }
diff --git a/packages/client-common/src/connection.ts b/packages/client-common/src/connection.ts
index 6420e54..6d824d5 100644
--- a/packages/client-common/src/connection.ts
+++ b/packages/client-common/src/connection.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ export interface ConnInsertParams<Stream> extends ConnBaseQueryParams {
   values: string | Stream
 }
 
+export interface ConnExecParams<Stream> extends ConnBaseQueryParams {
+  values?: Stream
+}
+
 export interface ConnBaseResult extends WithResponseHeaders {
   query_id: string
 }
@@ -66,6 +70,6 @@ export interface Connection<Stream> {
   close(): Promise<void>
   query(params: ConnBaseQueryParams): Promise<ConnQueryResult<Stream>>
   insert(params: ConnInsertParams<Stream>): Promise<ConnInsertResult>
-  exec(params: ConnBaseQueryParams): Promise<ConnExecResult<Stream>>
+  exec(params: ConnExecParams<Stream>): Promise<ConnExecResult<Stream>>
   command(params: ConnBaseQueryParams): Promise<ConnCommandResult>
 }
diff --git a/packages/client-common/src/index.ts b/packages/client-common/src/index.ts
index e069c75..233c091 100644
--- a/packages/client-common/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/client-common/src/index.ts
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ export type {
   Connection,
   ConnectionParams,
   ConnInsertResult,
+  ConnExecParams,
   ConnExecResult,
   ConnQueryResult,
   ConnBaseQueryParams,
diff --git a/packages/client-common/src/version.ts b/packages/client-common/src/version.ts
index 5dd9b13..91f74a7 100644
--- a/packages/client-common/src/version.ts
+++ b/packages/client-common/src/version.ts
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export default '1.3.0'
+export default '1.4.0'
diff --git a/packages/client-node/__tests__/integration/node_exec.test.ts b/packages/client-node/__tests__/integration/node_exec.test.ts
index 8afd27f..a343a9f 100644
--- a/packages/client-node/__tests__/integration/node_exec.test.ts
+++ b/packages/client-node/__tests__/integration/node_exec.test.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import type { ClickHouseClient } from '@clickhouse/client-common'
 import { createTestClient } from '@test/utils'
-import type Stream from 'stream'
+import { guid } from '@test/utils'
+import { createSimpleTable } from '@test/fixtures/simple_table'
+import Stream from 'stream'
 import { getAsText } from '../../src/utils'
-import { ResultSet } from '../../src'
+import { drainStream, ResultSet } from '../../src'
 
-describe('[Node.js] exec result streaming', () => {
+describe('[Node.js] exec', () => {
   let client: ClickHouseClient<Stream.Readable>
   beforeEach(() => {
     client = createTestClient()
@@ -66,4 +68,101 @@ describe('[Node.js] exec result streaming', () => {
       expect(await rs.json()).toEqual([{ number: '0' }])
     })
   })
+
+  describe('custom insert streaming with exec', () => {
+    let tableName: string
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      tableName = `test_node_exec_insert_stream_${guid()}`
+      await createSimpleTable(client, tableName)
+    })
+
+    it('should send an insert stream', async () => {
+      const stream = Stream.Readable.from(['42,foobar,"[1,2]"'], {
+        objectMode: false,
+      })
+      const execResult = await client.exec({
+        query: `INSERT INTO ${tableName} FORMAT CSV`,
+        values: stream,
+      })
+      // the result stream contains nothing useful for an insert and should be immediately drained to release the socket
+      await drainStream(execResult.stream)
+      await checkInsertedValues([
+        {
+          id: '42',
+          name: 'foobar',
+          sku: [1, 2],
+        },
+      ])
+    })
+
+    it('should not fail with an empty stream', async () => {
+      const stream = new Stream.Readable({
+        read() {
+          // required
+        },
+        objectMode: false,
+      })
+      const execPromise = client.exec({
+        query: `INSERT INTO ${tableName} FORMAT CSV`,
+        values: stream,
+      })
+      // close the empty stream after the request is sent
+      stream.push(null)
+      // the result stream contains nothing useful for an insert and should be immediately drained to release the socket
+      const execResult = await execPromise
+      await drainStream(execResult.stream)
+      await checkInsertedValues([])
+    })
+
+    it('should not fail with an already closed stream', async () => {
+      const stream = new Stream.Readable({
+        read() {
+          // required
+        },
+        objectMode: false,
+      })
+      stream.push('42,foobar,"[1,2]"\n')
+      // close the stream with some values
+      stream.push(null)
+      const execResult = await client.exec({
+        query: `INSERT INTO ${tableName} FORMAT CSV`,
+        values: stream,
+      })
+      // the result stream contains nothing useful for an insert and should be immediately drained to release the socket
+      await drainStream(execResult.stream)
+      await checkInsertedValues([
+        {
+          id: '42',
+          name: 'foobar',
+          sku: [1, 2],
+        },
+      ])
+    })
+
+    it('should not fail with an empty and already closed stream', async () => {
+      const stream = new Stream.Readable({
+        read() {
+          // required
+        },
+        objectMode: false,
+      })
+      // close the empty stream immediately
+      stream.push(null)
+      const execResult = await client.exec({
+        query: `INSERT INTO ${tableName} FORMAT CSV`,
+        values: stream,
+      })
+      // the result stream contains nothing useful for an insert and should be immediately drained to release the socket
+      await drainStream(execResult.stream)
+      await checkInsertedValues([])
+    })
+
+    async function checkInsertedValues<T = unknown>(expected: Array<T>) {
+      const rs = await client.query({
+        query: `SELECT * FROM ${tableName}`,
+        format: 'JSONEachRow',
+      })
+      expect(await rs.json()).toEqual(expected)
+    }
+  })
 })
diff --git a/packages/client-node/src/connection/node_base_connection.ts b/packages/client-node/src/connection/node_base_connection.ts
index 8befb3d..0c5309b 100644
--- a/packages/client-node/src/connection/node_base_connection.ts
+++ b/packages/client-node/src/connection/node_base_connection.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import type {
   ConnCommandResult,
   Connection,
   ConnectionParams,
+  ConnExecParams,
   ConnExecResult,
   ConnInsertParams,
   ConnInsertResult,
@@ -225,7 +226,7 @@ export abstract class NodeBaseConnection
   }
 
   async exec(
-    params: ConnBaseQueryParams,
+    params: ConnExecParams<Stream.Readable>,
   ): Promise<ConnExecResult<Stream.Readable>> {
     return this.runExec({
       ...params,
@@ -368,20 +369,23 @@ export abstract class NodeBaseConnection
     params: RunExecParams,
   ): Promise<ConnExecResult<Stream.Readable>> {
     const query_id = this.getQueryId(params.query_id)
-    const searchParams = toSearchParams({
+    const sendQueryInParams = params.values !== undefined
+    const toSearchParamsOptions = {
+      query: sendQueryInParams ? params.query : undefined,
       database: this.params.database,
       clickhouse_settings: params.clickhouse_settings,
       query_params: params.query_params,
       session_id: params.session_id,
       query_id,
-    })
+    }
+    const searchParams = toSearchParams(toSearchParamsOptions)
     const { controller, controllerCleanup } = this.getAbortController(params)
     try {
       const { stream, summary, response_headers } = await this.request(
         {
           method: 'POST',
           url: transformUrl({ url: this.params.url, searchParams }),
-          body: params.query,
+          body: sendQueryInParams ? params.values : params.query,
           abort_signal: controller.signal,
           parse_summary: true,
           headers: this.buildRequestHeaders(params),
@@ -617,4 +621,5 @@ interface SocketInfo {
 
 type RunExecParams = ConnBaseQueryParams & {
   op: 'Exec' | 'Command'
+  values?: ConnExecParams<Stream.Readable>['values']
 }
diff --git a/packages/client-node/src/connection/stream.ts b/packages/client-node/src/connection/stream.ts
index 6044926..5684157 100644
--- a/packages/client-node/src/connection/stream.ts
+++ b/packages/client-node/src/connection/stream.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import type Stream from 'stream'
 
-/** See https://github.com/ClickHouse/clickhouse-js/pull/203 */
+/** Drains the response stream, as calling `destroy` on a {@link Stream.Readable} response stream
+ *  will result in closing the underlying socket, and negate the KeepAlive feature benefits.
+ *  See https://github.com/ClickHouse/clickhouse-js/pull/203 */
 export async function drainStream(stream: Stream.Readable): Promise<void> {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     function dropData() {
diff --git a/packages/client-node/src/index.ts b/packages/client-node/src/index.ts
index a4c70a9..d577b6f 100644
--- a/packages/client-node/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/client-node/src/index.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export type {
 export { createClient } from './client'
 export { type NodeClickHouseClientConfigOptions as ClickHouseClientConfigOptions } from './config'
 export { ResultSet, type StreamReadable } from './result_set'
+export { drainStream } from './connection/stream'
 
 /** Re-export @clickhouse/client-common types */
 export {
diff --git a/packages/client-node/src/version.ts b/packages/client-node/src/version.ts
index 5dd9b13..91f74a7 100644
--- a/packages/client-node/src/version.ts
+++ b/packages/client-node/src/version.ts
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export default '1.3.0'
+export default '1.4.0'
diff --git a/packages/client-web/src/client.ts b/packages/client-web/src/client.ts
index 9bda2ae..fa3f63f 100644
--- a/packages/client-web/src/client.ts
+++ b/packages/client-web/src/client.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import type {
   DataFormat,
+  ExecParams,
+  ExecResult,
   InputJSON,
   InputJSONObjectEachRow,
   InsertParams,
@@ -20,7 +22,10 @@ export type QueryResult<Format extends DataFormat> =
     ? ResultSet<unknown>
     : ResultSet<Format>
 
-export type WebClickHouseClient = Omit<WebClickHouseClientImpl, 'insert'> & {
+export type WebClickHouseClient = Omit<
+  WebClickHouseClientImpl,
+  'insert' | 'exec'
+> & {
   /** See {@link ClickHouseClient.insert}.
    *
    *  ReadableStream is removed from possible insert values
@@ -30,6 +35,10 @@ export type WebClickHouseClient = Omit<WebClickHouseClientImpl, 'insert'> & {
       values: ReadonlyArray<T> | InputJSON<T> | InputJSONObjectEachRow<T>
     },
   ): Promise<InsertResult>
+  /** See {@link ClickHouseClient.exec}.
+   *
+   *  Custom values are currently not supported in the web versions. */
+  exec(params: ExecParams): Promise<ExecResult<ReadableStream>>
 }
 
 class WebClickHouseClientImpl extends ClickHouseClient<ReadableStream> {
diff --git a/packages/client-web/src/version.ts b/packages/client-web/src/version.ts
index 5dd9b13..91f74a7 100644
--- a/packages/client-web/src/version.ts
+++ b/packages/client-web/src/version.ts
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export default '1.3.0'
+export default '1.4.0'