diff --git a/onadata/apps/api/tests/viewsets/test_data_viewset.py b/onadata/apps/api/tests/viewsets/test_data_viewset.py
index 293623c47b..9ce726b464 100644
--- a/onadata/apps/api/tests/viewsets/test_data_viewset.py
+++ b/onadata/apps/api/tests/viewsets/test_data_viewset.py
@@ -702,17 +702,15 @@ def test_paginate_and_sort_streaming_data(self):
         self.assertEqual(expected_order[3:], pg_2_items_in_order)
 
     @override_settings(STREAM_DATA=True)
-    def test_get_sorted_paginated_fields_in_streaming_data(self):
+    def test_get_paginated_fields_in_streaming_data(self):
         """
-        Test that "sort" query param works as expected for paginated
-        responses
+        Test that we can return data for certain fields
         """
         self._make_submissions()
         view = DataViewSet.as_view({'get': 'list'})
         formid = self.xform.pk
 
-        # will result in a queryset due to the page and page_size params
-        # hence paging and thus len(self.object_list) for length
+        # will result in a generator due to the JSON sort
         query_data = {
             "page_size": 3,
             "page": 1,
@@ -726,13 +724,11 @@ def test_get_sorted_paginated_fields_in_streaming_data(self):
 
         streaming_data = json.loads(''.join(
             [c.decode('utf-8') for c in response.streaming_content]))
-        self.assertEqual(len(streaming_data), 3)
-        # Test `date_created` field is sorted correctly
-        expected_order = [1, 3, 4]
-        items_in_order = [sub.get('_id') for sub in streaming_data]
-
-        self.assertEqual(expected_order[:3], items_in_order)
-        self.assertTrue(response.has_header('ETag'))
+        self.assertEqual(len(streaming_data), 4)
+        # Test data returned is only the required fields
+        self.assertTrue(any('_id' in x for x in streaming_data))
+        self.assertTrue(any(
+            '_submission_time' in x for x in streaming_data))
 
     def test_data_start_limit_sort(self):
         self._make_submissions()
@@ -846,47 +842,45 @@ def test_data_public(self):
         view = DataViewSet.as_view({'get': 'list'})
         request = self.factory.get('/', **self.extra)
         response = view(request, pk='public')
-        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
-        self.assertEqual(response.get('Cache-Control'), None)
-        error_message = "Invalid form ID. It must be a positive integer"
-        self.assertEqual(str(response.data['detail']), error_message)
-
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(response.data, [])
         self.xform.shared_data = True
         self.xform.save()
+        formid = self.xform.pk
+        data = _data_list(formid)
         response = view(request, pk='public')
-        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
-        self.assertEqual(response.get('Cache-Control'), None)
-        self.assertEqual(str(response.data['detail']), error_message)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(response.data, data)
 
     def test_data_public_anon_user(self):
         self._make_submissions()
         view = DataViewSet.as_view({'get': 'list'})
         request = self.factory.get('/')
         response = view(request, pk='public')
-        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 404)
-        error_message = "Not found."
-        self.assertEqual(str(response.data['detail']), error_message)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(response.data, [])
         self.xform.shared_data = True
         self.xform.save()
+        formid = self.xform.pk
+        data = _data_list(formid)
         response = view(request, pk='public')
-        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 404)
-        self.assertEqual(str(response.data['detail']), error_message)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(response.data, data)
 
     def test_data_user_public(self):
         self._make_submissions()
         view = DataViewSet.as_view({'get': 'list'})
         request = self.factory.get('/', **self.extra)
         response = view(request, pk='public')
-        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
-        self.assertEqual(response.get('Cache-Control'), None)
-        error_message = "Invalid form ID. It must be a positive integer"
-        self.assertEqual(str(response.data['detail']), error_message)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(response.data, [])
         self.xform.shared_data = True
         self.xform.save()
+        formid = self.xform.pk
+        data = _data_list(formid)
         response = view(request, pk='public')
-        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 400)
-        self.assertEqual(response.get('Cache-Control'), None)
-        self.assertEqual(str(response.data['detail']), error_message)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+        self.assertEqual(response.data, data)
 
     def test_data_bad_formid(self):
         self._make_submissions()
diff --git a/onadata/apps/api/viewsets/data_viewset.py b/onadata/apps/api/viewsets/data_viewset.py
index feb4e38cc4..f106524890 100644
--- a/onadata/apps/api/viewsets/data_viewset.py
+++ b/onadata/apps/api/viewsets/data_viewset.py
@@ -647,11 +647,10 @@ def _get_data(self, query, fields, sort, start, limit, is_public_request):
             if should_paginate:
                 self.paginator.page_size = retrieval_threshold
 
-        if isinstance(self.object_list, types.GeneratorType) and \
-                should_paginate:
+        if isinstance(self.object_list, types.GeneratorType):
             # Unpack generator object to list
             self.object_list = list(self.object_list)
-        else:
+        if should_paginate:
             current_page = query_param_keys.get(
                 self.paginator.page_query_param, 1)
             current_page_size = query_param_keys.get(
@@ -664,7 +663,6 @@ def _get_data(self, query, fields, sort, start, limit, is_public_request):
                 current_page_size=current_page_size
             )
 
-        if should_paginate:
             try:
                 self.object_list = self.paginate_queryset(self.object_list)
             except OperationalError: