diff --git a/packages/ozone/src/api/label/subscribeLabels.ts b/packages/ozone/src/api/label/subscribeLabels.ts
index 7efb339d488..701405f9dad 100644
--- a/packages/ozone/src/api/label/subscribeLabels.ts
+++ b/packages/ozone/src/api/label/subscribeLabels.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export default function (server: Server, ctx: AppContext) {
     }
 
     for await (const evt of outbox.events(cursor, signal)) {
-      yield evt
+      yield { $type: 'com.atproto.label.subscribeLabels#labels', ...evt }
     }
   })
 }
diff --git a/packages/ozone/src/mod-service/util.ts b/packages/ozone/src/mod-service/util.ts
index dbb35d080eb..ec4de26c3ad 100644
--- a/packages/ozone/src/mod-service/util.ts
+++ b/packages/ozone/src/mod-service/util.ts
@@ -2,12 +2,16 @@ import { LabelRow } from '../db/schema/label'
 import { Label } from '../lexicon/types/com/atproto/label/defs'
 
 export const formatLabel = (row: LabelRow): Label => {
-  return {
+  const label: Label = {
     src: row.src,
     uri: row.uri,
-    cid: row.cid === '' ? undefined : row.cid,
     val: row.val,
     neg: row.neg,
     cts: row.cts,
   }
+  if (row.cid !== '') {
+    // @NOTE avoiding undefined values on label, which dag-cbor chokes on when serializing.
+    label.cid = row.cid
+  }
+  return label
 }
diff --git a/packages/ozone/tests/query-labels.test.ts b/packages/ozone/tests/query-labels.test.ts
index a3b51d30caa..2b4bf540450 100644
--- a/packages/ozone/tests/query-labels.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ozone/tests/query-labels.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 import AtpAgent from '@atproto/api'
 import { TestNetwork } from '@atproto/dev-env'
+import { DisconnectError, Subscription } from '@atproto/xrpc-server'
+import { ids, lexicons } from '../src/lexicon/lexicons'
 import { Label } from '../src/lexicon/types/com/atproto/label/defs'
+import {
+  OutputSchema as LabelMessage,
+  isLabels,
+} from '../src/lexicon/types/com/atproto/label/subscribeLabels'
 
 describe('ozone query labels', () => {
   let network: TestNetwork
@@ -121,4 +127,37 @@ describe('ozone query labels', () => {
       labels.slice(0, 5),
     )
   })
+
+  describe('subscribeLabels', () => {
+    it('streams all labels from initial cursor.', async () => {
+      const ac = new AbortController()
+      let doneTimer: NodeJS.Timeout
+      const resetDoneTimer = () => {
+        clearTimeout(doneTimer)
+        doneTimer = setTimeout(() => ac.abort(new DisconnectError()), 100)
+      }
+      const sub = new Subscription({
+        signal: ac.signal,
+        service: agent.service.origin.replace('http://', 'ws://'),
+        method: ids.ComAtprotoLabelSubscribeLabels,
+        getParams() {
+          return { cursor: 0 }
+        },
+        validate(obj) {
+          return lexicons.assertValidXrpcMessage<LabelMessage>(
+            ids.ComAtprotoLabelSubscribeLabels,
+            obj,
+          )
+        },
+      })
+      const streamedLabels: Label[] = []
+      for await (const message of sub) {
+        resetDoneTimer()
+        if (isLabels(message)) {
+          streamedLabels.push(...message.labels)
+        }
+      }
+      expect(streamedLabels).toEqual(labels)
+    })
+  })
 })