diff --git a/lib/mongo/Mutator.js b/lib/mongo/Mutator.js
index b3f6e81d..c545b0ec 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/Mutator.js
+++ b/lib/mongo/Mutator.js
@@ -139,6 +139,9 @@ export default class Mutator {
         ...findOptions,
         fields: {},
       }).fetchAsync();
+    } else if (Object.keys(selector).length === 1 && typeof selector._id === "string") {
+      // if we are updating a single document by id, we can skip the find
+      docs = [{ _id: selector._id }];
     } else {
       docs = await this.find(selector, findOptions).fetchAsync();
     }
@@ -340,8 +343,14 @@ export default class Mutator {
       delete removeOptions.projection;
     }
 
-    // TODO: optimization check if it has _id or _id with {$in} so we don't have to redo this.
-    const docs = await this.find(selector, removeOptions).fetchAsync();
+    let docs
+
+    if (!shouldIncludePrevDocument(this) && Object.keys(selector).length === 1 && typeof selector._id === 'string') {
+      docs = [{ _id: selector._id }];
+    } else {
+      docs = await this.find(selector, removeOptions).fetchAsync();
+    }
+
     let docIds = docs.map((doc) => doc._id);
 
     if (!selector._id) {