diff --git a/xbatcher/generators.py b/xbatcher/generators.py
index 612be61..a257567 100644
--- a/xbatcher/generators.py
+++ b/xbatcher/generators.py
@@ -54,14 +54,22 @@ def _drop_input_dims(ds, input_dims, suffix='_input'):
     return out
 
 
-def _maybe_stack_batch_dims(ds, input_dims, stacked_dim_name='sample'):
+def _maybe_stack_batch_dims(
+    ds, input_dims, squeeze_batch_dim, stacked_dim_name='sample'
+):
     batch_dims = [d for d in ds.dims if d not in input_dims]
-    if len(batch_dims) < 2:
+    if len(batch_dims) == 0:
+        if squeeze_batch_dim:
+            return ds
+        else:
+            return ds.expand_dims(stacked_dim_name, 0)
+    elif len(batch_dims) == 1:
         return ds
-    ds_stack = ds.stack(**{stacked_dim_name: batch_dims})
-    # ensure correct order
-    dim_order = (stacked_dim_name,) + tuple(input_dims)
-    return ds_stack.transpose(*dim_order)
+    else:
+        ds_stack = ds.stack(**{stacked_dim_name: batch_dims})
+        # ensure correct order
+        dim_order = (stacked_dim_name,) + tuple(input_dims)
+        return ds_stack.transpose(*dim_order)
 
 
 class BatchGenerator:
@@ -90,6 +98,10 @@ class BatchGenerator:
     preload_batch : bool, optional
         If ``True``, each batch will be loaded into memory before reshaping /
         processing, triggering any dask arrays to be computed.
+    squeeze_batch_dim : bool, optional
+        If ``False`` and all dims are input dims, each batch's dataset will have a
+        "batch" dimension of size 1 prepended to the array. This functionality is
+        useful for interoperability with Keras / Tensorflow.
 
     Yields
     ------
@@ -105,6 +117,7 @@ def __init__(
         batch_dims={},
         concat_input_dims=False,
         preload_batch=True,
+        squeeze_batch_dim=True,
     ):
 
         self.ds = _as_xarray_dataset(ds)
@@ -114,6 +127,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.batch_dims = OrderedDict(batch_dims)
         self.concat_input_dims = concat_input_dims
         self.preload_batch = preload_batch
+        self.squeeze_batch_dim = squeeze_batch_dim
 
     def __iter__(self):
         for ds_batch in self._iterate_batch_dims(self.ds):
@@ -132,11 +146,13 @@ def __iter__(self):
                 new_input_dims = [
                     dim + new_dim_suffix for dim in self.input_dims
                 ]
-                yield _maybe_stack_batch_dims(dsc, new_input_dims)
+                yield _maybe_stack_batch_dims(
+                    dsc, new_input_dims, self.squeeze_batch_dim
+                )
             else:
                 for ds_input in input_generator:
                     yield _maybe_stack_batch_dims(
-                        ds_input, list(self.input_dims)
+                        ds_input, list(self.input_dims), self.squeeze_batch_dim
                     )
 
     def _iterate_batch_dims(self, ds):
diff --git a/xbatcher/tests/test_generators.py b/xbatcher/tests/test_generators.py
index 38acae9..1b99083 100644
--- a/xbatcher/tests/test_generators.py
+++ b/xbatcher/tests/test_generators.py
@@ -169,6 +169,63 @@ def test_batch_3d_2d_input_concat(sample_ds_3d, bsize):
         )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('bsize', [10, 20])
+def test_batch_1d_squeeze_batch_dim(sample_ds_1d, bsize):
+    bg = BatchGenerator(
+        sample_ds_1d,
+        input_dims={'x': bsize},
+        squeeze_batch_dim=False,
+    )
+    for ds_batch in bg:
+        assert list(ds_batch['foo'].shape) == [1, bsize]
+
+    bg2 = BatchGenerator(
+        sample_ds_1d,
+        input_dims={'x': bsize},
+        squeeze_batch_dim=True,
+    )
+    for ds_batch in bg2:
+        assert list(ds_batch['foo'].shape) == [bsize]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('bsize', [5, 10])
+def test_batch_3d_squeeze_batch_dim(sample_ds_3d, bsize):
+    bg = BatchGenerator(
+        sample_ds_3d,
+        input_dims={'y': bsize, 'x': bsize},
+        squeeze_batch_dim=False,
+    )
+    for ds_batch in bg:
+        assert list(ds_batch['foo'].shape) == [10, bsize, bsize]
+
+    bg2 = BatchGenerator(
+        sample_ds_3d,
+        input_dims={'y': bsize, 'x': bsize},
+        squeeze_batch_dim=True,
+    )
+    for ds_batch in bg2:
+        assert list(ds_batch['foo'].shape) == [10, bsize, bsize]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('bsize', [5, 10])
+def test_batch_3d_squeeze_batch_dim2(sample_ds_3d, bsize):
+    bg = BatchGenerator(
+        sample_ds_3d,
+        input_dims={'x': bsize},
+        squeeze_batch_dim=False,
+    )
+    for ds_batch in bg:
+        assert list(ds_batch['foo'].shape) == [500, bsize]
+
+    bg2 = BatchGenerator(
+        sample_ds_3d,
+        input_dims={'x': bsize},
+        squeeze_batch_dim=True,
+    )
+    for ds_batch in bg2:
+        assert list(ds_batch['foo'].shape) == [500, bsize]
+
+
 def test_preload_batch_false(sample_ds_1d):
     sample_ds_1d_dask = sample_ds_1d.chunk({'x': 2})
     bg = BatchGenerator(