diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/aggregation/Aggregation.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/aggregation/Aggregation.java
index 1b3b00f28..acea5e03b 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/aggregation/Aggregation.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/aggregation/Aggregation.java
@@ -64,6 +64,33 @@ public class Aggregation {
 	 */
 	public static final String CURRENT = SystemVariable.CURRENT.toString();
 
+	/**
+	 * A variable which evaluates to the missing value. Allows for the conditional exclusion of fields. In a
+	 * {@code $projection}, a field set to the variable {@literal REMOVE} is excluded from the output.
+	 *
+	 * <pre>
+	 * <code>
+	 * 
+	 * db.books.aggregate( [
+	 * {
+	 *     $project: {
+	 *         title: 1,
+	 *         "author.first": 1,
+	 *         "author.last" : 1,
+	 *         "author.middle": {
+	 *             $cond: {
+	 *                 if: { $eq: [ "", "$author.middle" ] },
+	 *                 then: "$$REMOVE",
+	 *                 else: "$author.middle"
+	 *             }
+	 *         }
+	 *     }
+	 * } ] )
+	 * </code>
+	 * </pre>
+	 */
+	public static final String REMOVE = SystemVariable.REMOVE.toString();
+
 	public static final AggregationOperationContext DEFAULT_CONTEXT = AggregationOperationRenderer.DEFAULT_CONTEXT;
 	public static final AggregationOptions DEFAULT_OPTIONS = newAggregationOptions().build();
 
@@ -648,11 +675,12 @@ public class Aggregation {
 	 * Describes the system variables available in MongoDB aggregation framework pipeline expressions.
 	 *
 	 * @author Thomas Darimont
-	 * @see <a href="https://docs.mongodb.org/manual/reference/aggregation-variables">Aggregation Variables</a>
+	 * @author Christoph Strobl
+	 * @see <a href="https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/reference/aggregation-variables">Aggregation Variables</a>.
 	 */
 	enum SystemVariable {
 
-		ROOT, CURRENT;
+		ROOT, CURRENT, REMOVE;
 
 		private static final String PREFIX = "$$";
 
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/aggregation/ProjectionOperationUnitTests.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/aggregation/ProjectionOperationUnitTests.java
index 3baa77495..dec24890c 100755
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/aggregation/ProjectionOperationUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/aggregation/ProjectionOperationUnitTests.java
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import static org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.aggregation.Fields.*;
 import static org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.aggregation.VariableOperators.Let.ExpressionVariable.*;
 import static org.springframework.data.mongodb.test.util.Assertions.*;
 
+import lombok.Data;
+
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -212,6 +214,21 @@ public class ProjectionOperationUnitTests {
 		assertThat((Integer) projectClause.get(Fields.UNDERSCORE_ID)).isEqualTo(0);
 	}
 
+	@Test // DATAMONGO-1906
+	public void rendersConditionalProjectionCorrectly() {
+
+		TypedAggregation aggregation = Aggregation.newAggregation(Book.class,
+				Aggregation.project("title")
+						.and(ConditionalOperators.when(ComparisonOperators.valueOf("author.middle").equalToValue(""))
+								.then("$$REMOVE").otherwiseValueOf("author.middle"))
+						.as("author.middle"));
+
+		Document document = aggregation.toDocument("books", Aggregation.DEFAULT_CONTEXT);
+
+		assertThat(document).isEqualTo(Document.parse(
+				"{\"aggregate\" : \"books\", \"pipeline\" : [{\"$project\" : {\"title\" : 1, \"author.middle\" : {\"$cond\" : {\"if\" : {\"$eq\" : [\"$author.middle\", \"\"]}, \"then\" : \"$$REMOVE\",\"else\" : \"$author.middle\"} }}}]}"));
+	}
+
 	@Test // DATAMONGO-757
 	public void usesImplictAndExplicitFieldAliasAndIncludeExclude() {
 
@@ -1715,4 +1732,17 @@ public class ProjectionOperationUnitTests {
 		return (Document) fromProjectClause.get(field);
 	}
 
+	@Data
+	static class Book {
+		String title;
+		Author author;
+	}
+
+	@Data
+	static class Author {
+		String first;
+		String last;
+		String middle;
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/main/asciidoc/reference/mongodb.adoc b/src/main/asciidoc/reference/mongodb.adoc
index 6ea8bc8ba..1508e6050 100644
--- a/src/main/asciidoc/reference/mongodb.adoc
+++ b/src/main/asciidoc/reference/mongodb.adoc
@@ -2565,6 +2565,26 @@ List<InventoryItemProjection> stateStatsList = result.getMappedResults();
 
 * This one-step aggregation uses a projection operation with the `inventory` collection. We project the `discount` field using a conditional operation for all inventory items that have a `qty` greater or equal to `250`. A second conditional projection is performed for the `description` field. We apply the description `Unspecified` to all items that either do not have a `description` field of items that have a `null` description.
 
+As of MongoDB 3.6 it is possible to exclude fields from the projection using a conditional expression.
+
+.Conditional aggregation projection
+====
+[source,java]
+----
+TypedAggregation<Book> agg = Aggregation.newAggregation(Book.class,
+  project("title")
+    .and(ConditionalOperators.when(ComparisonOperators.valueOf("author.middle")     <1>
+        .equalToValue(""))                                                          <2>
+        .then("$$REMOVE")                                                           <3>
+        .otherwiseValueOf("author.middle")                                          <4>
+    )
+	.as("author.middle"));
+----
+<1> If the value of the field `author.middle`
+<2> does not contain a value
+<3> then use https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/reference/aggregation-variables/#variable.REMOVE[``$$REMOVE``] to exclude the field
+<4> else add the field value of `author.middle`.
+====
 
 [[mongo.custom-converters]]
 == Overriding default mapping with custom converters