diff --git a/docs/reference/pages/queryset_reference.rst b/docs/reference/pages/queryset_reference.rst
index 928abefa18..4e7a1ff590 100644
--- a/docs/reference/pages/queryset_reference.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/pages/queryset_reference.rst
@@ -270,4 +270,18 @@ Reference
 
         See also: :py:attr:`Page.specific <wagtail.core.models.Page.specific>`
 
+    .. automethod:: defer_streamfields
+
+        Example:
+
+        .. code-block:: python
+
+            # Apply to a queryset to avoid fetching StreamField values
+            # for a specific model
+            EventPage.objects.all().defer_streamfields()
+
+            # Or combine with specific() to avoid fetching StreamField
+            # values for all models
+            homepage.get_children().defer_streamfields().specific()
+
     .. automethod:: first_common_ancestor
diff --git a/wagtail/core/models.py b/wagtail/core/models.py
index 529d9d8e7f..5e962b35af 100644
--- a/wagtail/core/models.py
+++ b/wagtail/core/models.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import functools
 import json
 import logging
 import uuid
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ from modelcluster.fields import ParentalKey, ParentalManyToManyField
 from modelcluster.models import ClusterableModel, get_all_child_relations
 from treebeard.mp_tree import MP_Node
 
+from wagtail.core.fields import StreamField
 from wagtail.core.forms import TaskStateCommentForm
 from wagtail.core.query import PageQuerySet, TreeQuerySet
 from wagtail.core.signals import (
@@ -671,6 +673,14 @@ def get_default_page_content_type():
     return ContentType.objects.get_for_model(Page)
 
 
+@functools.lru_cache(maxsize=None)
+def get_streamfield_names(model_class):
+    return tuple(
+        field.name for field in model_class._meta.concrete_fields
+        if isinstance(field, StreamField)
+    )
+
+
 class BasePageManager(models.Manager):
     def get_queryset(self):
         return self._queryset_class(self.model).order_by('path')
@@ -893,6 +903,10 @@ class Page(AbstractPage, index.Indexed, ClusterableModel, metaclass=PageBase):
     def __str__(self):
         return self.title
 
+    @classmethod
+    def get_streamfield_names(cls):
+        return get_streamfield_names(cls)
+
     def set_url_path(self, parent):
         """
         Populate the url_path field based on this page's slug and the specified parent page.
diff --git a/wagtail/core/query.py b/wagtail/core/query.py
index 924fe489eb..7a51c0d8e0 100644
--- a/wagtail/core/query.py
+++ b/wagtail/core/query.py
@@ -135,6 +135,18 @@ class TreeQuerySet(MP_NodeQuerySet):
 
 
 class PageQuerySet(SearchableQuerySetMixin, TreeQuerySet):
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """Set custom instance attributes"""
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        # set by defer_streamfields()
+        self._defer_streamfields = False
+
+    def _clone(self):
+        """Ensure clones inherit custom attribute values."""
+        clone = super()._clone()
+        clone._defer_streamfields = self._defer_streamfields
+        return clone
+
     def live_q(self):
         return Q(live=True)
 
@@ -345,6 +357,20 @@ class PageQuerySet(SearchableQuerySetMixin, TreeQuerySet):
         for page in self.live():
             page.unpublish()
 
+    def defer_streamfields(self):
+        """
+        Apply to a queryset to prevent fetching/decoding of StreamField values on
+        evaluation. Useful when working with potentially large numbers of results,
+        where StreamField values are unlikely to be needed. For example, when
+        generating a sitemap or a long list of page links.
+        """
+        clone = self._clone()
+        clone._defer_streamfields = True  # used by specific_iterator()
+        streamfield_names = self.model.get_streamfield_names()
+        if not streamfield_names:
+            return clone
+        return clone.defer(*streamfield_names)
+
     def specific(self, defer=False):
         """
         This efficiently gets all the specific pages for the queryset, using
@@ -434,6 +460,8 @@ def specific_iterator(qs, defer=False):
             # Defer all specific fields
             fields = [field.attname for field in Page._meta.get_fields() if field.concrete]
             pages = pages.only(*fields)
+        elif qs._defer_streamfields:
+            pages = pages.defer_streamfields()
 
         pages_for_type = {page.pk: page for page in pages}
         pages_by_type[content_type] = pages_for_type
diff --git a/wagtail/core/tests/test_page_queryset.py b/wagtail/core/tests/test_page_queryset.py
index b5c192171c..9084a4f7c7 100644
--- a/wagtail/core/tests/test_page_queryset.py
+++ b/wagtail/core/tests/test_page_queryset.py
@@ -871,10 +871,19 @@ class TestFirstCommonAncestor(TestCase):
     fixtures = ['test_specific.json']
 
     def setUp(self):
+        self.root_page = Page.objects.get(url_path='/home/')
         self.all_events = Page.objects.type(EventPage)
         self.regular_events = Page.objects.type(EventPage)\
             .exclude(url_path__contains='/other/')
 
+    def _create_streampage(self):
+        stream_page = StreamPage(
+            title='stream page',
+            slug='stream-page',
+            body='[{"type": "text", "value": "foo"}]',
+        )
+        self.root_page.add_child(instance=stream_page)
+
     def test_bookkeeping(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.all_events.count(), 4)
         self.assertEqual(self.regular_events.count(), 3)
@@ -936,3 +945,17 @@ class TestFirstCommonAncestor(TestCase):
     def test_empty_queryset_strict(self):
         with self.assertRaises(Page.DoesNotExist):
             Page.objects.none().first_common_ancestor(strict=True)
+
+    def test_defer_streamfields_without_specific(self):
+        self._create_streampage()
+        for page in StreamPage.objects.all().defer_streamfields():
+            self.assertNotIn('body', page.__dict__)
+            with self.assertNumQueries(1):
+                page.body
+
+    def test_defer_streamfields_with_specific(self):
+        self._create_streampage()
+        for page in Page.objects.exact_type(StreamPage).defer_streamfields().specific():
+            self.assertNotIn('body', page.__dict__)
+            with self.assertNumQueries(1):
+                page.body